Open Source Leadership with Bruce Momjian
Talking Postgres with Claire Giordano · Microsoft
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Show Notes
What does it take to lead a global open source project like Postgres? In Episode 26 of Talking Postgres with Claire Giordano, we sit down with Bruce Momjian—co-founder and core team member of the PostgreSQL Global Development Group—to explore the art of leadership in a volunteer-run open source community. Bruce shares what “servant leadership” really means; how saying I’m sorry can help make problems go away; and how letting go of who-gets-the-credit can fuel collaboration. We also dive into Bruce’s origin story, from shaping Postgres’s early days to mastering the art of public speaking. Pro tip: if you see a man in a bow tie at a Postgres conference, be sure to say hello—it’s probably Bruce Momjian!
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Open source project website: postgresql.org
- Website: Bruce Momjian
- Video of talk: Building Open Source Teams at FOSDEM 2023
- Slides: FOSDEM talk on Building Open Source Teams
- Wikipedia: John C. Maxwell
- Harry Truman quote: It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit
- The New Stack: How to Generate AI From a Database
- EDB Blog: Bruce Momjian’s Insights from PGConf India 2025
- Conference schedule: PGConf India 2025
- Book: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
- Video of talk: Why Database Teams Need Crew Resource Management by Chris Travers
- Wikipedia: Anna Karenina principle
- Talking Postgres podcast: Why mentor Postgres developers with Robert Haas
- Discord invite: PostgreSQL Hacking server
- Mailing lists: PostgreSQL mailing lists
- Conference: PostgreSQL Conference Nepal 2025 happening May 5-6
- Conference: PostgreSQL Conference Germany 2025 on May 8-9
- Conference: POSETTE: An Event for Postgres 2025 on Jun 10-12
- Upcoming POSETTE 2025 keynote: Databases in the AI Trenches by Bruce Momjian
- Conference: SouthEast | LinuxFest on Jun 13-15 in Charlotte NC
- Conference: Swiss PGDay 2025 happening Jun 26-27
- Conference: PGDay Austria 2025 happening in Vienna on Sep 4
- Conference: PGDay UK 2025 happening in London on Sep 9
- Conference: PGDay Lowlands 2025 happening in Rotterdam on Sep 12
- Video from PGConf.dev 2024: Making PostgreSQL Hacking More Inclusive
- Talking Postgres podcast: How I got started as a developer (& in Postgres) with David Rowley
- Wikipedia: O'Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON)
- Calendar invite: LIVE recording of Ep27 of Talking Postgres to happen on Wed May 07 with guest Peter Farkas. The topic: “How I got started with FerretDB (& why we chose Postgres)”