So are compilers, virtual networks, and encryption, but I have tools for all those that don’t inspire the kind of nameless terror that databases do. The failure modes are different but the problems are not really easier intellectually speaking.

There are databases like CockroachDB that are more modern and a lot more approachable for high availability but for some reason everyone adores Postgres. I’m not sure why. It’s arcane and clunky and feels like 1980s Unix software.