Re: Non-Compete Challenges for Community Work

Are you talking about people already in the community who feel they might have 
to stop working here due to a non-compete clause, or those not year yet who 
would feel they can't start because of them?

I feel that working on Postgres itself or its tools would be a very distinct 
industry niche that could only conceivably be considered similar work to someone 
working on some proprietary database engine like Oracle or MS SQL Server etc, 
and most employment anyone is likely to have would be in the application space 
or other spaces which are very clearly separate and arms-length that there 
should be no risk of a non-compete clause overlapping that isn't stupidly 
non-enforceable like can't work in IT at all.

I feel your expressed ideas have some merit, but that I feel that they should 
all be strictly non-financial, and that the idea of this dedicated community 
fund for this specific scenario seems unfair to everyone else who needs paid work.

Darren Duncan

On 2025-12-02 8:27 a.m., Cornelia Biacsics wrote:
> Dear Community,
> 
> I would like to raise a general challenge that could affect contributors in the 
> PostgreSQL ecosystem (in the future).
> 
> Broad non-compete clauses in employment contracts — regardless of whether they 
> would hold up in court — may temporarily prevent people from continuing their 
> work in the database industry.
> 
> This could potentially interrupt ongoing community contributions and reduce 
> continuity.
> 
> Before exploring either path further, I would like to understand whether there 
> is actual demand or interest in addressing this challenge collectively.
> 
>  1. Do you see this as an issue the PostgreSQL community should discuss?
>  2. Would either of these options be valuable for community health and
>     sustainability?
>  3. Is there support for forming a small working group to evaluate feasibility
>     and governance?
> 
> If there is interest, I see two possible directions:
> 
> 
>       *1. Community Support & Retention Fund*
> 
> A fund to offer temporary financial support or non-commercial project work for 
> contributors who may be restricted from working within the PostgreSQL ecosystem 
> due to broad non-compete clauses.
> During such a period, these contributors would work exclusively for the 
> community, focusing on non-commercial tasks aligned with PostgreSQL’s values and 
> needs.
> 
> 
>       *2. Community Recognition for PostgreSQL Community-Friendly Companies*
> 
> Extending the existing community recognition model (used for meetups and 
> conferences) to organizations. Companies could voluntarily follow community- 
> aligned guidelines (based on general & expanded CoC guidelines)— including 
> avoiding restrictive industry-wide non-compete clauses — and be recognized as 
> community-friendly employers within the ecosystem.
> 
> I look forward to your thoughts and perspectives — publicly or privately — and 
> appreciate your openness in discussing what can be a sensitive but important topic.
> 
> Thanks a lot and best wishes
> 
> Cornelia Biacsics
>