You may have no idea what MySQL and that's o.k. but, if you're a heavy Internet user, you're probably surfing through a lot of Web sites that are powered by MySQL, a relational database program that is a very handy, helpful bit of free, open-source code. Now, the stewards behind MySQL believe that MySQL is under threat from Oracle, the world's second biggest software company. Oracle is buying Sun Microsystems and Sun 'owns' some of intellectual property used to create MySQL and Oracle, which makes its living selling closed-source, proprietary database programs, is perceived as less than interested in seeing MySQL prosper. Oracle has responded to these concerns. You may want to take a quick minute to review the following — it landed in my inbox today — and click through on the links for more information.
Of course, I welcome your comments on this as to the perceived threat by Oracle to MySQL:
Hi!
I am contacting you because you have in the past shown interest in MySQL and from that I assume you are interested in the future well-being of MySQL.
Now you have a unique opportunity to make a difference. By signing the petition at http://www.helpmysql.org you can help affect the future of MySQL as an Open Source database.
You can find more information of this on my latest blog post at: http://monty-says.blogspot.com/2009/12/help-keep-internet-free.html
Help us spread the world about this petition! http://www.helpmysql.org is available in 18 languages and every vote is important, independent of from where in the world it comes! If you know people that are using MySQL, please contact them and ensure they also sign the petition!
Regards,
Monty
Creator of MySQL
Thanks for posting this, David. I don't have an opinion on whether Oracle would be a good owner of MySQL or not, but can see some of the concerns the author has.
I do know that the Pundits' Guide would probably not have been possible without MySQL. MySQL doesn't have nearly the set of features the Oracle database engine does, and some of the gaps (like the absence of cached execution plans for views and stored procedures) do create huge overheads in time and effort for me. But I could not have afforded an Oracle licence to do that project. PostgreSQL could be an alternative, but migrating it over now would not be a trivial matter.
I also wonder what the economics would be for small-time web hosting services if MySQL were no longer available for free. It's now the backbone of most web content management systems like WordPress, phpBB, and many many others.
Do you know what database engine(s) the Obama campaign web applications used? I think I read that it was MS SQL Server, but I'm not sure. Apparently Wikipedia uses MySQL, as do a lot of other large Web 2.0 projects.
I'll be interested to read what your other techie readers have to say. Happy New Year.
A merge of the PostgreSQL code base and the interfaces of MySQL would not be trivial.
When is serious progress ever trivial?
I meant migrating my own database code from MySQL to PostgreSQL, but you probably knew that. At least I'm using a library for one layer of abstraction, but there are always native features that work in one but not another, that you never know about ahead of time.
The project you suggest is beyond my capability, that's for sure.
Monty (the founder behind this latest push for a freer MySQL) actually goes into a little more depth regarding MySQL/PostgreSQL compatibility. To quote , and it's far from trivial … to convert MySQL applications to PostgreSQL and vice versa
Sorry for the confusion, hope this all goes well for you.