This is a very exciting time for the PostgreSQL world. Never before has such a large number of committers, contributors, and advanced users been under a single banner. The acquisition of 2ndQuadrant by EDB creates the largest dedicated provider of PostgreSQL products and solutions worldwide. 2ndQuadrant and EDB have been two prolific and long term contributors to the PostgreSQL project. Added up, both companies have put in 25+ years helping customers adopt PostgreSQL and supporting them in critical environments—all the while contributing major features and enhancements to open source PostgreSQL. During this time, the PostgreSQL project has seen unprecedented growth, popularity, and adoption. With this acquisition, we expect contributions and support to accelerate, making PostgreSQL stronger than ever.
EDB is, and always has been, committed to a strong, independent, and diverse PostgreSQL community, which is reflected in our Open Source Contribution Policy.
Why does this matter so much? Because it encourages lasting, collaborative innovation focused on adding value. If a commercially-driven open source software entity were to take over, innovation would be stifled, the software could become less reliable, and changes to costs and license models could occur. All of this hurts everyone -- including the organizations we serve. Bottom-up, grass-roots-driven innovation from a large diverse community is why PostgreSQL keeps getting better year after year. That’s why we believe in, contribute to, and fully support the community.
Fortunately, internal PostgreSQL community rules prevent any one company from taking control of the project. Innovation is driven in a bottom up way by a meritocracy of committers and contributors. Some of these are freelancers or volunteers, and some work for companies that use PostgreSQL or provide commercial services associated with the software. It is remarkable that while many of those companies collaborate on the software, they compete in the market. Also, PostgreSQL adopted a variant of the extremely permissive and simple open source BSD license, commonly known as the PostgreSQL License. All of this ensures that no commercial entity can acquire or control PostgreSQL, and that the project remains vibrant and innovative.
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