The database that refused to die: How Postgres survived its own creators
7 hours ago
- #PostgreSQL
- #Database History
- #Open Source
- Postgres originated from Michael Stonebraker's work on Ingres and was initially developed as Postgres (Post-Ingres).
- Stonebraker's vision included extensible architecture, particularly abstract data types (ADTs), which became a key feature.
- After Stonebraker abandoned Postgres in the mid-1990s, volunteer contributors revived it, adding SQL support and maintaining its open-source nature.
- Postgres is widely used today, powering cloud infrastructure and database services from major providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
- Extensibility, quality codebase, and permissive licensing have contributed to Postgres's adoption and ability to adapt to trends like geospatial and JSON data.
- Postgres lacks some features found in commercial databases, such as transparent data encryption (TDE), due to development priorities and technical challenges.