MariaDB Server MiniFest Wed 9 Dec 2020

Written by Written by Kaj Arnö

New MariaDB releases come with regular intervals. Releasing a new version is a balance between new functionality and bugfixes on one side, and stability on the other. How do we get optimum quality for the releases? And what exactly is quality, from the point of view of DBAs and developers that use MariaDB Server?

That’s the setting of our MariaDB Server MiniFest in two weeks.

New MariaDB Releases: The DBA & Developer Experience 

This MiniFest is called “mini” for three key reasons:

  1. It has just one topic
  2. It is much shorter, less than half a day
  3. It happens just in one time zone

But it still builds on the pillars of success from our MariaDB Server Fest in Sep 2020:

  1. It features expert speakers on MariaDB Server
  2. It has pre-recording, subtitles, and follow-up discussions
  3. It is interactive, with the speakers “cloned” on Zulip chat

The special sauce

The special sauce for this MiniFest is

  1. Internal presenters explain the logic of release policies
  2. External presenters give the candid user perspective
  3. The desired outcome: improved processes and quality

The conference format

The internal (provider) presentations have a 10+10 minute format. The first ten minutes is a “slide deck” type overview presentation by an expert, such as Sergei Golubchik (board member of MariaDB Foundation, in charge of security and code quality of MariaDB Server) and Daniel Bartholomew (release manager). The second ten minutes is a Q&A session, a discussion between the original presenter and other subject matters experts. 

The external (user) presentations, also 20 minutes in total, provide a similar overview-plus-Q&A format. How is DBS Bank looking at the release model? To which versions does the user upgrade production applications? How does the user strike the balance between getting new functionality, getting bug fixes, and avoiding regression bugs?

The conference is concluded by a moderated panel with all presenters, asking the difficult questions from a user perspective.

Asking for your panel input

We welcome all DBAs, devops and developers to join the free online MiniFest. When you register, you have the possibility to pose a question related to the release policy. Like with the Monty AMA during the Server Fest (“Ask Me Anything”), the best questions will be featured in the panel, and may even influence the presentations.

Exact timing

The MiniFest conference starts Wed 9 Dec 2020 at 14:00 Paris time (CET), which is 8am in New York, and 21:00 in Beijing and Singapore. The duration is 3 hours.

How to register

Register here: https://mariadb.org/minifest2020-registration/