> "The Dominance of PostgreSQL Continues"

It seems like the author is more focused on database features than user base. Every metric I can find online says that MySQL/MariaDB is more popular than PostgreSQL. PostgreSQL seems "better" (more features, better standards compliance) but MySQL/MariaDB works fine for many people. Am I living in a bubble?

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mdasen 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Popularity can mean multiple things. Are we talking about how frequently a database is used or how frequently a database is chosen for new projects? MySQL will always be very popular because some very popular things use it like WordPress.

It does feel like a lot of the momentum has shifted to PostgreSQL recently. You even see it in terms of what companies are choosing for compatibility. Google has a lot more MySQL work historically, but when they created a compatibility interface for Cloud Spanner, they went with PostgreSQL. ClickHouse went with PostgreSQL. More that I'm forgetting at the moment. It used to be that everyone tried for MySQL wire compatibility, but that doesn't feel like what's happening now.

If MySQL is making you happy, great. But there has certainly been a shift toward PostgreSQL. MySQL will continue to be one of the most used databases just as PHP will remain one of the most used programming languages. There's a lot of stuff already built with those things. I think most metrics would say that PHP is more widely deployed than NodeJS, but I think it'd be hard to argue that PHP is what the developer community is excited about.

Even search here on HN. In the past year, 4 MySQL stories with over 100 point compared to 28 PostgreSQL stories with over 100 points (and zero MariaDB stories above 100 points and 42 SQLite). What are we talking about here on HN? Not nearly as frequently MySQL - we're talking about SQLite and PostgreSQL. That's not to say that MySQL doesn't work great for you or that it doesn't have a large installed base, but it isn't where our mindshare is about the future.

	▲	evanelias 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		> ClickHouse went with PostgreSQL. What do you mean by this? AFAIK they added MySQL wire protocol compatibility long before they added Postgres. And meanwhile their cloud offering still doesn't support Postgres wire protocol today, but it does support MySQL wire protocol. > Even search here on HN. fwiw MySQL has been extremely unpopular on HN for a decade or more, even back when MySQL was a more common choice for startups. So there's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy where MySQL ecosystem folks mostly stopped submitting stories here because they never got enough upvotes to rank high enough to get eyeballs and discussion. That all said, I do agree with your overall thesis.

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dujuku 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Every metric I can find online says that MySQL/MariaDB is more popular than PostgreSQL

What are those metrics? If you're talking about things like db-engines rankings, those are heavily skewed by non-production workloads. For example, MySQL still being the database for Wordpress will forever have a high number of installations and developers using and asking StackOverflow questions. But when a new company or established company is deciding which new database to use for their custom application, MySQL is seldom in the running like it was 8-10 years ago.

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spprashant 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think author is basing his observations on where the money is flowing. PostgreSQL adjacent startups and businesses are seeing a lot of investment.

	▲	alexpadula 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Well yeah.

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apavlo 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

> Am I living in a bubble?

There are rumblings that the MySQL project is rudderless after Oracle fired the team working on the open-source project in September 2025. Oracle is putting all its energy in its closed-source MySQL Heatwave product. There is a new company that is looking to take over leadership of open-source MySQL but I can't talk about them yet.

The MariaDB Corporation financial problems have also spooked companies and so more of them are looking to switch to Postgres.

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Sesse__ 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

> There are rumblings that the MySQL project is rudderless after Oracle fired the team working on the open-source project in September 2025.

Not just the open-source project; 80%+ (depending a bit on when you start counting) of the MySQL team as a whole was let go, and the SVP in charge of MySQL was, eh, “moving to another part of the org to spend more time with his family”. There was never really a separate “MySQL Community Edition team” that you could fire, although of course there were teams that worked mostly or entirely on projects that were not open-sourced.

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menaerus 2 days ago | parent [-]

Wouldn't Oracle need those 80%+ devs if they wanted to shift their efforts into Heatwave? That percentage sounds too huge to me and if true I believe they won't be making any larger investments into Heatwave neither. There's several core teams in MySQL and if you let those people go ... I don't know, I am not sure what to make out of it but that Oracle is completely moving away from MySQL as a strategic component of their business.

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Sesse__ a day ago | parent [-]

> Wouldn't Oracle need those 80%+ devs if they wanted to shift their efforts into Heatwave?

They would, so Heatwave is also going to suffer over this.

	▲	menaerus 14 hours ago \| parent [-]
		So, AI ate the cake ... I always thought that the investment that Oracle needs to make for MySQL is peanuts compared to the Oracle's total revenue and the revenue MySQL is generating. Perhaps the latter is not so true anymore.

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_1tan 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Percona I suppose?