Today at the Open Source Summit Europe, The Linux Foundation announced that the open-source document database, DocumentDB, would be joining the foundation and be released under the MIT license.
DocumentDB was created by Microsoft and launched earlier this year. Since its release, it has gained 1.9k stars and hundreds of contributions, feedback, and users, according to the Linux Foundation.
It started as a pair of PostgreSQL extensions to support popular BSON data models and document queries in the PostgreSQL ecosystem. With the recent addition of a gateway protocol transition layer, it has since evolved into a MongoDB compatible solution as well.
Microsoft says that it is donating the project to the Linux Foundation for a couple of reasons. First, the foundation will help establish a standard for document databases, similar to what ANSI SQL did for relational databases. Second, it will provide a place for any database provider to continue. And finally, open-source Postgres will be favored for the project over a forked version.
“As DocumentDB enters its next chapter with the Linux Foundation, we’re carving out a path where document databases are open, interoperable, and standardized—built with the flexibility of NoSQL and the reliability of Postgres. This move isn’t just symbolic; it reflects a concrete shift in how we build and govern the project moving forward,” Kirill Gavrylyuk, VP at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post.
As part of the move, a new GitHub organization was created to serve as the hub for all development, issues, and discussions. There is also a Discord server for more discussions, where the community will be able to communicate directly with the Technical Steering Committee.
Several companies have already offered their support for the project, including AWS, Cockroach Labs, Google, Microsoft, Rippling, SingleStore, Snowflake, Supabase, Ubicloud, and Yugabyte.
“PostgreSQL has withstood the test of time because of its tremendous versatility and extensibility,” said Spencer Kimball, co-founder and CEO, Cockroach Labs. “That includes document database capabilities, and the open source DocumentDB project makes that extremely simple for developers already familiar with MongoDB. This is an excellent addition to the Postgres ecosystem.”
Linux Foundation forms Developer Relations Foundation
The organization had announced its intent to form the Developer Relations Foundation (DRF) in September 2024, and as of today, it is officially formed.
The DRF’s mission is to “elevate the professional practice of developer relations and increase awareness of it as a driver of business value.”
It has created four open source projects that support dev rels: a Persona Library, Tools Catalog, Events Directory, and community strategy frameworks and templates.
“What started as conversations by DevRel professionals over the last few years has grown into something the entire community needed and wanted. We’re solving real problems – no more explaining our role to confused hiring managers or reinventing community strategies from scratch. With the Linux Foundation backing, we’re creating standardized frameworks, career paths, and metrics that prove DevRel’s business impact. Built by practitioners, for practitioners.” said Stacey Kruczek, developer relations leader & community growth strategist for the Developer Relations Foundation.
