Money for AI instead of Open Source: pgBackRest project gives up

David Steele, the maintainer of the widely used Postgres backup tool pgBackRest, has not found funding for his project and has therefore archived it on GitHub. It is now read-only.

Steele writes on GitHub that he is “looking for a position that would allow me to continue the work, but so far I have not been successful. Likewise, my efforts to secure sponsorship have also fallen far short of what I need to make the project viable.” He also asks interested parties in forks to find a new name.

Criticism of one-sided exploitation of Open Source

Observers from the community expect forks of the program, which is essential in the Postgres environment, but also criticize the IT industry in its handling of open source. Laetitia Avrot, a former member of the Postgres Code of Conduct Committee, points out, for example: “The open source model works when the people consuming the value also contribute to sustaining it.” Large companies have benefited enormously from pgBackRest, but “The AI gold rush has thoroughly reshuffled what companies consider worth paying for.” Currently, it is obviously more important to provide RAM and GPUs.

In the community, the search for an alternative is now beginning. For users, it means waiting for now. Currently, there are no new features for pgBackRest and no more bug fixes. Problems are therefore likely to arise at the latest with new versions of Postgres.

A graphical appeal with a revised version of the well-known xkcd comic “Dependency” calls for adequate financial support for open-source projects like pgBackRest.

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