Why the cycle of open-source sustainability needs to be virtuous

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:48:43 +1000

Yesterday, David Steele announced the end of life of pgBackRest — a PostgreSQL backup tool he maintained for thirteen years. The reasons are structural, not personal, and they are a reminder of a pattern we see too often in open-source infrastructure. This article reflects on what that means, on the architectural rivalry between pgBackRest and Barman, and on why CloudNativePG users can take confidence from both the project’s CNCF governance and the virtuous cycle of commercial support that sustains it.

Sustainability on Unleashing the Power of Postgres in Kubernetes

Why the cycle of open-source sustainability needs to be virtuous