As I’ve played around with PostgreSQL, I’ve found it to be quite a capable database. I’ve begun to wonder how common PostgreSQL is used in production systems. After a little bit of research, apparently quite a few organizations use this database.
PostgreSQL was originally developed at the University of California at Berkley by Profesor M. Stonebraker in 1986. Postgres, as the database was originally called, was later commercialized by the company Informix and renamed Illustra. Informix was later purchased by IBM for 1 billion dollars. In 1996, Postgres95 – the open source version of Postgres – was created. This was later renamed to PostgreSQL 6.0.
After over a decade of development, I think its safe to say that this database is mature and commands a large install base due to corporate support by established companies (Sun, Fujitsu, Afilias, etc.) and the large development community behind it. I just find it weird that I don’t see a whole lot of PostgreSQL fanboys running around telling everyone and their mothers about this software. This is how obscure OSS projects gets well known – kind of like how MySQL and Linux got popular.
If you would like more information on the topic, please check the postgresql.org’s history page. I’ve also put up an article on PostgreSQL pertaining to domains.