planning for oracle takeover of sun - farewell mysql?

Question

Now that the shareholders have voted and oracle will be taking over SUNW, does anyone have any facts about the implication for mysql users? If you don't have facts, I suppose conjecture would be interesting as well (but please label it so).

I was afraid of what would happen when the original mysql team sold out to SUN (I don't blame them - I would have taken the profits too). It looks like the worst case scenario is happening. We need an open source rdbms - I've decided to start supporting postgresql even though I don't use their product. Open source competition has lead to the rise of free versions of the major database systems and I think it's important to keep a significant open source presence alive.

I have a very minor system that uses MySQL. Does anyone have any insight as to if/when I need to convert to something else?

On a related note - postgresql supports CTEs now - postgresql. Here are the references to the buyout sun, oracle

Answer 1

No. Farewell OpenSolaris...

Answer 2

MySQL is a mess!

there is the Sun branch, called MySQL, but most of the MySQL developers from MySQL AB have left. Maria DB is one branch, and Drizzle.

Im sure it won't get any better, but competition is healthy and good reason to abstract your code to ensure backend portability

There seems to be growing fanboyism in the lesser-relational databases such as CouchDB and Hadoop/Google style distributed tables.

Keep looking at news and abstracting the backend

Answer 3

Conjecture - MySQL isn't going away. Oracle wanted Sun because Java and Oracle is used a lot in the same area, but MySQL isn't competeing with Oracle. You aren't going to run your banking software of MySQL, and you aren't going to spend a million dollars on a license to power your manga PHPbb discussion forum (active users: 2, including yourself).

Most likely Oracle will keep developing MySQL so that they have something that can take the low end of the market as well as the highend.

Answer 4

Oracle still supports and maintains RDB. 15 years of continued support and development in a product which arguably competes with its core RDBMS product. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_Rdb

I think MySQL is safe. Oracle will try to create a revenue stream from it just as it does from its own Linux distribution.

Answer 5

Some tips:

• Oracle have two Open Source Databases: Berkeley DB and now MySQL. Then MySQL is not the first one.
• Oracle have a lot of Open Source Projects and free software. And there are oracle developers that contribute to Open Source comunity. For instance, as you can see here, is the fifth company contributing on linux kernel, when Sun is the 11th.
• The market for Oracle is other that the MySQL.

Then... Don't worry because it's not interesting for them to close MySQL. Anyway, If something is wrong, magically the community will create a fork of MySQL because GPL license.