1. Falling for "open source" PostgreSQL that's actually proprietary
The PostgreSQL name has become so valuable that vendors actively trade on its good name while undermining the very open source principles that make it attractive. Many "PostgreSQL" offerings are actually proprietary forks, marketed as open source with the intention of pushing you toward proprietary solutions. These vendors leverage PostgreSQL's reputation while quietly implementing lock-in strategies through extensions, custom patches, and closed-source management tools.
The problem extends to cloud vendors, too. Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL and Azure Database for PostgreSQL both implement proprietary hooks for monitoring, backup, and scaling that create subtle but powerful dependencies. Once your operations rely on these non-standard capabilities, you're effectively locked into their ecosystem despite the "PostgreSQL" label.
Consider this: Companies like EDB build their business model around proprietary extensions that initially seem harmless but gradually become essential to your applications. Their "compatibility" layers for Oracle migration create immediate technical debt by introducing non-standard functionality that only works within their ecosystem. Similarly, TimeScale promotes its time-series extension as PostgreSQL-compatible, but its cloud offering introduces proprietary features that make migration away technically challenging and prohibitively expensive.
What you can do instead:
- Scrutinize vendor claims of "100% compatibility" by checking if they maintain full compatibility with the PostgreSQL Global Development Group's releases
- Avoid PostgreSQL distributions that require proprietary extensions for core functionality
- Challenge vendors on their contributions back to the PostgreSQL community – companies that primarily take from rather than contribute to PostgreSQL often have business models built on lock-in
- Choose vendors whose revenue comes from supporting true PostgreSQL, not from selling proprietary add-ons that create dependency