Oracle didn't buy the product. They bought the name and the product was a nice extra. Likewise Oracle didn't really buy Java; they bought Sun and Java just happ

Oracle didn't buy the product. They bought the name and the product was a nice extra. Likewise Oracle didn't really buy Java; they bought Sun and Java just happened to be a nice extra. I've heard people say this was like what Cisco tried to do with Linksys by trying to get into consumer and SMB. Plus we know from Cisco what happens when you buy a brand and let it stagnate. Buying MySQL for Oracle, I think, wasn't really a matter of creating a new foothold in the hobby/SMB market or the like. Bringing it under their name was about adding value to their own brand. "Look, we cater to the 'small' guys too!" (And that's however arbitrarily people define 'small' since Adwords clearly doesn't fit the label.) If it was somehow about gaining a foothold, I think that was secondary. And maybe it was their way of somehow muscling in on Postgres in that aspect. Of course people will only continue to use a product if you show it some love. Freshly harvested fruit has a limited shelf life after all.