Couch 1.0 retrospect

Surprise, to me, CouchDB 1.0 hit today.

A call went out for folks to chime in about their experiences with CouchDB.

I'm a casual participant, follower, and non-user of CouchDB since around 0.9. I have dabbled with it, but have not been able to employ it anywhere in my projects. The tool is in the box, just doesn't fit anything I need right now.

I didn't head over to the Couch project trying to fill a need, rather when a friend started using it, I went over to see what the buzz was about. I learned a bit and started to linger in IRC and on the mailing list.

I made an effort to understand CouchDB. I have a solid understanding of RDBMS systems, so I really wanted to understand this "new" thing. With the understanding I have, I post random stuff on things like Stack Overflow to help answer Couch questions, and offer other bits of support.

As a "non-user", I found the community to be great. The principals live on the mailing lists and IRC. They don't just talk, they listen, and discuss the finest nuances of the systems with random strangers that just happen to show up.

For me, the Couch community is the center of the NoSQL world. I think they have a unique perspective and are doing things different from what the other DB projects are trying to do. Because of its uniqueness, it's a great place to start and radiate out in to the large DB world.

CouchDB 1.0 is exciting as it "finishes" the first leg of their journey. But the journey will continue and I wish them the best.

Congrats to the CouchDB team and un-team.