- Documentb began as a postgre complement before evolving an independent project
- The adoption of the Linux Foundation indicates a new era for open documents databases
- The restrictive decisions of Mongodb licenses created openings for the documentdb permissive approach
For years, open source databases have been described as traditional or newer relational relational systems.
The appearance of Documentb, introduced for the first time by Microsoft and now adopted under the Linux Foundation, is unlocking that division.
By combining post -mentql with documents -oriented storage through extensions, DocumentDB is positioned as relatives for developers and harmful to existing NOSQL players.
From postgregql extensions to a complete project
Its adoption under the permissive license of MIT indicates an impulse for a broader community participation.
“It is great that Microsoft, AWS and others are joining strength to work in Documentb, an open source implementation of an API compatible with Mongodb in addition to PostgreSQL,” said Bruce Momjian, founding member of the postgressql central development team.
“We create DocumentDB with a simple objective: to provide developers with a database of open documents with the flexibility of NOSQL and the power, reliability, openness and postgre ecosystem,” said Kirill Gavrylyuk, Vice President of Microsoft.
DocumentB began in 2024 as a couple of post -guer accessories to handle BONS data models and document consultations.
Within a year, the project expanded to an independent database that still depends largely on reliability and postgressql ecosystem.
This dual identity, part of the relational engine and the document store partially make DocumentDB attractive to developers looking for a common interface.
However, skeptics indicate that the characteristics of the post -livell layer document does not erase the structural limitations of relational systems.
The movement to bring Documentb to the Linux Foundation has attracted the Amazon Web Services, Google and others.
Its support indicates a rare moment of alignment among the main providers of the cloud, particularly given the license disputes that fractured the world of the database in recent years.
“AWS is pleased to contribute to the Open Source DocumentB project, now administered by the Linux Foundation,” said Adam Abravaya, director of Amazon Documentb.
“It’s great to see that the DocumentB project joins the Linux Foundation, which assures customers and the community has an openly governed open source option available for them,” said Sakesh Krishnamurthy, Vice President of Google Cloud engineering.
Even so, critics remember that supplier’s neutrality has often been more symbolic than practical.
A project backed by hyperscalers can be easily molded by their priorities, leaving smaller taxpayers to wonder how much influence will really have community governance.
Documentb adoption can also be seen as a response to Mongodb’s decision to adopt restrictive license models.
By offering a permissive alternative, the Linux Foundation hopes to boost a more interoperable standard for document databases.
Industry veterans argue that such standard is very late, but the moment is controversial.
However, Mongodb continues to dominate the market, and its defenders insist that the capacities of PostgreSQL stock documents do not replace a native design.
“Documentb fills a critical gap in the ecosystem of the document database, attracting taxpayers, users and champions. It provides an open standard for documents based on documents,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation.
For developers who work in Linux distributions or laptops for programming, DocumentDB may appear as another promising tool for simplicity and openness.
Companies that consider mobile work stations or SAAS integrations can also see the appeal in a standardized Postgre web option.
However, reality is less direct because success depends on the technical merit and the resistance of the community to the inclination towards larger suppliers.
