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> Part of the reason Snowflake and Databricks are interested in database companies is because PostgreSQL can serve as the underlying database for customers to c

> Part of the reason Snowflake and Databricks are interested in database companies is because PostgreSQL can serve as the underlying database for customers to create AI agents with data they store in the companies’ respective platforms. I don't understand this part. What does PostgreSQL offer here that these vendors believe they can't add to their existing platform? Is it the ecosystem?

gk1 1y ago
Low-latency and cheap retrieval for RAG.
- FridgeSeal 1y ago
  But why do they need serverless Postgres for that? They could achieve the same with normal pg, or SQLite. Or any number of other embedded DB’s. There’s also plenty of disaggregated compute options available…
  - redwood 1y ago
    I imagine they are buying the expertise in managing the transactional system rather than the IP itself. Operationally running a transactional system is a different ballgame for these OLAP players. (of course what they're not getting is scale readiness.. it's not like these companies have anything resembling RDS level customer workloads)
steveBK123 1y ago
I read this as "buying potential competitors off the market" right? Less ability for customers to roll-their-own => more customers for Snowflake?
- FridgeSeal 1y ago
  With neon being bought by databricks, serverless Postgres tech has effectively disappeared from the market.
  - fsckboy 1y ago
    is it open source? (this? https://github.com/neondatabase/neon.git https://github.com/neondatabase/neon.git ) and since it's serverless, in terms of being on the internet what are you saying has disappeared, a proprietary version? support/consulting contracts?
  - tristan957 1y ago
    What do you mean by this? Neon is still operating the same service. Source: I work there.
    - FridgeSeal 1y ago
      Oh my bad! I was under the (evidently mistaken) impression that since they were bought by databricks they would just become a part of that and cease to be. Evidently, I was very wrong, which I’m glad to hear tbh.
  - buremba 1y ago
    There is also this one from Supabase: https://www.orioledb.com/ https://www.orioledb.com/
  - eampiart 1y ago
    Prisma Postgres is a nice choice if you're looking for serverless postgres.
znpy 1y ago
I think it’s the large ecosystem of BSD licensed stuff they can fork and relicense as proprietary software.m, because the BSD license allows that.
brightball 1y ago
Crunchydata is an excellent vendor and a purist in the ecosystem. The Crunchydata Warehouse product was also extremely compelling. It’s probably worth it just for their people.
- tristan957 1y ago
  Crunchy has some really smart people working there. Maybe most notably Tom Lane. I wonder if he'll stay on after the acquisition.

gk1 1y ago

Low-latency and cheap retrieval for RAG.

FridgeSeal 1y ago
But why do they need serverless Postgres for that? They could achieve the same with normal pg, or SQLite. Or any number of other embedded DB’s. There’s also plenty of disaggregated compute options available…
- redwood 1y ago
  I imagine they are buying the expertise in managing the transactional system rather than the IP itself. Operationally running a transactional system is a different ballgame for these OLAP players. (of course what they're not getting is scale readiness.. it's not like these companies have anything resembling RDS level customer workloads)

steveBK123 1y ago

I read this as "buying potential competitors off the market" right? Less ability for customers to roll-their-own => more customers for Snowflake?

FridgeSeal 1y ago
With neon being bought by databricks, serverless Postgres tech has effectively disappeared from the market.
- fsckboy 1y ago
  is it open source? (this? https://github.com/neondatabase/neon.git https://github.com/neondatabase/neon.git ) and since it's serverless, in terms of being on the internet what are you saying has disappeared, a proprietary version? support/consulting contracts?
- tristan957 1y ago
  What do you mean by this? Neon is still operating the same service. Source: I work there.
  - FridgeSeal 1y ago
    Oh my bad! I was under the (evidently mistaken) impression that since they were bought by databricks they would just become a part of that and cease to be. Evidently, I was very wrong, which I’m glad to hear tbh.
- buremba 1y ago
  There is also this one from Supabase: https://www.orioledb.com/ https://www.orioledb.com/
- eampiart 1y ago
  Prisma Postgres is a nice choice if you're looking for serverless postgres.

znpy 1y ago

I think it’s the large ecosystem of BSD licensed stuff they can fork and relicense as proprietary software.m, because the BSD license allows that.

brightball 1y ago

Crunchydata is an excellent vendor and a purist in the ecosystem. The Crunchydata Warehouse product was also extremely compelling. It’s probably worth it just for their people.

tristan957 1y ago
Crunchy has some really smart people working there. Maybe most notably Tom Lane. I wonder if he'll stay on after the acquisition.