Contributing to MariaDB: Learn how to contribute to the MariaDB server codebase. And be prepared for what it takes. And see what you will learn along the way.

Have you ever wondered what it would take to actually get your contribution into the MariaDB server codebase?

We will take one specific contribution and follow through its processing. It's a bug fix contribution. 2 lines of actual code change. On smaller codebases, used by less people, this would have probably taken minutes to process. It is somewhat different with the MariaDB server's codebase. But for a very good reason!

Contributing to Postgres: Contributing to open source can feel intimidating early in your career, especially with a project as widely used and critical as Postgres. This feeling can be exacerbated by the Postgres contribution process, which revolves around mailing lists and commit fests instead of GitHub issues and pull requests. Often, confidence comes after action; the first patch is the hardest. Even small contributions can reach thousands of people.

This talk traces my path from setting up a local build and gaining familiarity with the codebase to contributing bug-fix patches and documentation updates. Also, it outlines how the Postgres development process and community operate. The aim is to demystify the process so more engineers feel confident contributing to Postgres, and leave with the context and practical steps to make their first (or next) patch and take their favourite database to new heights.