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Amazing! Now let's get MySQL back!

by ThePinion 16y ago

poundy 16y ago
Are there any forks yet? Is it harder or easier to fork a project like MySQL?
- riffraff 16y ago
  it seems there are quite a few: percona's XtraDB, OurDelta, MariaDB, Drizzle are the first that come to mind, plus HailDB that is a fork of the single InnoDB
  - lawnchair_larry 16y ago
    Percona was not really a fork. That was a performance patch for InnoDB from long before the acquisition.
- cookiecaper 16y ago
  I don't think there were any forks as a direct result of the Oracle acquisition, but that's probably because there are several other prominent forks already and many of the MySQL people were displeased with the state of affairs under Sun, let alone Oracle. So most of the exodus had already occurred. Check out MariaDB and Drizzle as starting points. :)
- gaius 16y ago
  Heh, the thing is, MySQL was always open source, and Monty et al have all quit, so Sun really payed $1Bn of their shareholder's money that they couldn't really afford and the only actual asset they got was the domain name mysql.com. And people wonder why they were bought by Oracle...
  - bruce511 16y ago
    "...only actual asset they got was the domain name mysql.com" Not true. Apart from the domain, they also got the MySql brand name. More importantly though than that they got the ability to sell MySql licenses. But wait you say, MySql is free... Well, yes and no. It's free for a limited subset of cases, for the rest you need a license. Now the code can be forked forever, but only Sun (now Oracle) can sell commercial licenses. MySql is a big deal for Oracle because they are effectively the only ones that can change the licensing conditions for MySql. All MySql forks have to be licensed under the GPL.
SriniK 16y ago
+1 for the idea. Should do the same for Java too.
haberman 16y ago
I'm not understanding what the community has gained from this, or what would be gained if the same thing happened to other projects like MySQL. You could fork before, you can fork now, right? How is ceasing of commercial development a net positive? It just seems neutral.
- zacharypinter 16y ago
  It removes any vague sense of the main corporate sponsor being in charge.
- bad_user 16y ago
  MySQL has the flaw that all dual-licensed projects have; trademark is owned by a for-profit, all copyright is owned by a for-profit -- Oracle is the only one who can sell commercial licenses, Oracle has the privilege to sell commercial support as the owner of the only branch/fork of MySQL that is called "MySQL", all other forks will be forever called MySQL-forks, unless some alternative fork emerges that's so groundbreaking that it will make MySQL irrelevant (or all channels of distribution, like Linux distros, align to stop distribution of MySQL). Basically, as a project, MySQL is mature and has enough clout that it might never exist enough incentive for forks to gain market-share, ever. That's one of the reasons why I switched to PostgreSQL -- BSD-like license, trademark owned by a nonprofit, has much better popularity and support than all MySQL-forks combined.

Amazing! Now let's get MySQL back!

poundy 16y ago

Are there any forks yet? Is it harder or easier to fork a project like MySQL?

riffraff 16y ago
it seems there are quite a few: percona's XtraDB, OurDelta, MariaDB, Drizzle are the first that come to mind, plus HailDB that is a fork of the single InnoDB
- lawnchair_larry 16y ago
  Percona was not really a fork. That was a performance patch for InnoDB from long before the acquisition.
cookiecaper 16y ago
I don't think there were any forks as a direct result of the Oracle acquisition, but that's probably because there are several other prominent forks already and many of the MySQL people were displeased with the state of affairs under Sun, let alone Oracle. So most of the exodus had already occurred. Check out MariaDB and Drizzle as starting points. :)
gaius 16y ago
Heh, the thing is, MySQL was always open source, and Monty et al have all quit, so Sun really payed $1Bn of their shareholder's money that they couldn't really afford and the only actual asset they got was the domain name mysql.com. And people wonder why they were bought by Oracle...
- bruce511 16y ago
  "...only actual asset they got was the domain name mysql.com" Not true. Apart from the domain, they also got the MySql brand name. More importantly though than that they got the ability to sell MySql licenses. But wait you say, MySql is free... Well, yes and no. It's free for a limited subset of cases, for the rest you need a license. Now the code can be forked forever, but only Sun (now Oracle) can sell commercial licenses. MySql is a big deal for Oracle because they are effectively the only ones that can change the licensing conditions for MySql. All MySql forks have to be licensed under the GPL.

SriniK 16y ago

+1 for the idea. Should do the same for Java too.

haberman 16y ago

I'm not understanding what the community has gained from this, or what would be gained if the same thing happened to other projects like MySQL. You could fork before, you can fork now, right? How is ceasing of commercial development a net positive? It just seems neutral.

zacharypinter 16y ago
It removes any vague sense of the main corporate sponsor being in charge.
bad_user 16y ago
MySQL has the flaw that all dual-licensed projects have; trademark is owned by a for-profit, all copyright is owned by a for-profit -- Oracle is the only one who can sell commercial licenses, Oracle has the privilege to sell commercial support as the owner of the only branch/fork of MySQL that is called "MySQL", all other forks will be forever called MySQL-forks, unless some alternative fork emerges that's so groundbreaking that it will make MySQL irrelevant (or all channels of distribution, like Linux distros, align to stop distribution of MySQL). Basically, as a project, MySQL is mature and has enough clout that it might never exist enough incentive for forks to gain market-share, ever. That's one of the reasons why I switched to PostgreSQL -- BSD-like license, trademark owned by a nonprofit, has much better popularity and support than all MySQL-forks combined.