Oracle now destroying MySQL

[lykwydchykyn]

The way they work is very different, but they target the same market, so yes, they are competitors.

If there's overlap in some situations, it's not one I've experienced. Not that I've experience everything, so I'll freely admit I'm probably wrong.

I guess my own experiences where I work (and other db's as well), I can't remember a situation where there was a debate between using one or the other. When Oracle was used, it was the only thing that would have worked, and when MySQL was used it would have been laughable to use Oracle.

Anecdote: I happen to know somebody who interviewed at Oracle. As part of the inteview, he had to give a satisfactory presentation that showed that Oracle is a better database than MySQL.

Fair enough.

[MadmanRB]

The problem lays in that a lot of things use mySQL including some linux apps so this is pretty nasty.

[vexorian]

There's little oracle can do that would hurt the free software projects that already use mysql. If this keeps happening, the developers can just take the latest release to be licensed GPL and fork away. The projects will just need to switch to the fork (or distribution's packagers can do the change themselves).

It is the risk of companies like Oracle buying out projects what makes me happy we got the GPL.

[Primefalcon]

It is the risk of companies like Oracle buying out projects what makes me happy we got the GPL.

Agreed 100%... since MySQL was a dealbreaker..... I really have to wonder..... Did Oracle really not understand what the GPL is when they bought Sun....

They got left with nothing after they did the same to OpenOffice, now they pull the same kinda thing with MySQL... Do they not understand this stuff can easily be forked.... that the only thing they really own is the name?

[KiwiNZ]

Agreed 100%... since MySQL was a dealbreaker..... I really have to wonder..... Did Oracle really not understand what the GPL is when they bought Sun....

They got left with nothing after they did the same to OpenOffice, now they pull the same kinda thing with MySQL... Do they not understand this stuff can easily be forked.... that the only thing they really own is the name?

one does not rise to management in a company the size of Oracle without being aware of the industry one is in and have a good level of intelligence.

[jwbrase]

Wouldn't this violate Sherman Antitrust Act?

Probably, but the US government's record of actually enforcing the Act is very spotty, so it's rather moot.

[Primefalcon]

one does not rise to management in a company the size of Oracle without being aware of the industry one is in and have a good level of intelligence.

I disagree, the guy who owns oracle either does not understand the GPL.... or he does understand the GPL and thinks people wouldn't just fork it anyhow....

One way or the other..... he's made a gross miscalulation.

[forrestcupp]

one does not rise to management in a company the size of Oracle without being aware of the industry one is in and have a good level of intelligence.

Sometimes some that have risen to big company management don't act like they have the level intelligence required.
I've seen big, upper management and CEOs do some very stupid things.

Besides, GPL is relatively so small a part of the market that it's very possible to have a high level of understanding of the tech market and all of the competitors without understanding the inner workings of the GPL license.

[stmiller]

Oracle pretty much owns MySQL. So they could close the source and change the license if they wanted and start charging for it.

MariaDB is 100% compatible with MySQL. A true drop in replacement. All mysql commands, APIs, etc work.

MariaDB is GPLv2 and is looking more and more like the future...

[vexorian]

Oracle pretty much owns MySQL. So they could close the source and change the license if they wanted and start charging for it.

It is not possible to retroactively change the license of stuff that was already released. So if Oracle do that, there's nothing stopping you from taking the last GPL-ed release and keep on working on it with the GPL.