Post Syndicated from original https://lwn.net/Articles/934940/

In the fast-moving open-source world, programs can come and go quickly; a
tool that has many users today can easily be eclipsed by something better
next week. Even in this environment, though, some programs endure for a
long time. As an example, consider the
PostgreSQL database system, which traces its
history back to 1986. Making fundamental changes to a large code base
with that much history is never an easy task. As fundamental changes go,
moving PostgreSQL away from its process-oriented model is not a small one,
but it is one that the project is considering seriously.