Who are the PGDG?

© Laurenz Albe 2025

You may have encountered the abbreviation PGDG or the long version “PostgreSQL Global Development Group” in the PostgreSQL license text, the name of installation packages and elsewhere. But have you ever stopped to think who this mysterious organization is? Have you ever wondered how one becomes a member? Then read on.

An attempt at defining the “PGDG”

I couldn't find an official definition, so here is mine: the PostgreSQL Global Development Group is the group of people who contribute in any way to the PostgreSQL software and its quality. Naturally, that includes the people who write code for the PostgreSQL database management system. But — at least in my understanding — the PGDG also includes many other people:

• people who review patches on the hackers mailing list, usually during a commitfest
• people who write useful bug reports
• people who help to improve the documentation (which is part of the source distribution), including the release notes
• people who build binary installation packages or Docker containers for the PostgreSQL project
• people who join a discussion about the general usefulness and the specific design of a proposed code or documentation change
• people who run PostgreSQL beta releases and give feedback about anything that seems odd or surprising

You can find some of the more notorious members of the PGDG on the contributors page, but that list is far from exhaustive. Recently, we tried to acknowledge all contributors to a PostgreSQL release in the release notes (see for example the acknowledgements for PostgreSQL v17). Despite our best effort, that list is certainly not complete (which is very much not the fault of Peter Eisentraut, who does his best to acknowledge everybody — thank you!).

Relationship of the PGDG to other bodies of people in the PostgreSQL world

To clarify my definition above, here is my take on how the PostgreSQL Global Development Group overlaps with other groups that belong to PostgreSQL (you can find them on the governance page):

• the Core Team is not concerned with the development of PostgreSQL, although most of its members are
• the Sysadmin Team also does not directly contribute to development
• the Committers are the heart of the PGDG, since they are the final arbiters for code changes
• the Security Team deals with code quality, so it is very much a part of the PGDG
• the Code of Conduct Committee, the Contributors Committee and the Sponsors Committee are not part of the development process
• the non profit organizations listed, including the PostgreSQL Community Association that manages the trade mark, are not part of the PGDG

I feel that I should add a disclaimer here. I don't mean to claim that the members of — say — the Code of Conduct Committee cannot consider themselves members of the PGDG. Indeed, I would expect that most people in the entities I listed above feel that they belong to the PGDG. Also, don't forget that this is my personal take at what the PGDG is. If you feel like commenting this article with your dissenting opinion, you are welcome. Just don't expect me to get into a fight about it!

So how can I become a member of the PGDG?

Simple — wire 30 Euros to my bank account. Actually, it is much simpler than that: Just do it! There is no need to sign any scary legal documents (looking at you, MySQL). You need a community account for most activities, and you may want to subscribe to one of more mailing lists. Note the following paragraph from the archives policy:

By choosing to send messages to a PostgreSQL mailing list, you are implicitly granting your permission for that message to be archived in that fashion, regardless of any e-mail disclaimer it might have. Additionally, source code submissions to mailing lists such as pgsql-hackers are considered submissions to the PostgreSQL project, falling under the project's PostgreSQL licence. Please make sure you have permission to share information with these lists before sending your message.

Code contributions

If you want to write code for PostgreSQL, you will find useful starting pages in the PostgreSQL Wiki:

• So, you want to be a developer? — an introductory guide
• Development Information — a collection of links to descriptions of various development activities

Other ways to make PostgreSQL better

But there are many ways to be a part of the PGDG without writing code, which also need your time and dedication:

• If you encounter a bug or quirk in PostgreSQL, don't leave it at getting annoyed. Draw up a problem description and precise instructions to reproduce what you observe and report it. That will feel better than the most flowery curse, and it may help to actually improve the situation.
• Similarly, if you find that parts of our great documentation are inaccurate, incomplete, confusing or in any way should be improved, use the link at the bottom of the page to report the problem (or write the the pgsql-docs mailing list). You can even write a patch for the documentation!
• As soon as it is available (usually in April), use the Beta version of the upcoming PostgreSQL release for your non-crucial database applications and for a test installation of your crucial database applications. That will not only allow you to find bugs before they can cause damage, but it can give you the confidence that the new release will work well with your software.
• If you master a language other than English, you can help translating PostgreSQL messages.
• As a specific idea, if you want to help putting together the PostgreSQL release notes, Bruce would like your help.

Conclusion and outlook

The PGDG is no exclusive society, but something you can be a part of whenever you want. There are many ways to contribute to make PostgreSQL better, and these are not limited to development: perhaps this list of possible volunteer activities can inspire you.

A great way to get hooked to PostgreSQL is to attend a PostgreSQL conference!