I’ve long been a fan of MySQL. We use it to power Event Clipboard, integratechange.com, and many of our other projects. I was concerned when MySQL was bought by Sun, but I thought, at least Sun has a history of embracing open source initiatives.
My one fear was that MySQL would lose direction and become a behemoth of epic proportions. In short, I thought it was going become Java (not to start a flame war, but I could never embrace Java). Now that Sun has been purchased by Oracle, I fear that my fears will be realized. I hope not, but this article in Infoworld, MySQL: Forked beyond repair? doesn’t help me feel better about the situation.
If the originators of MySQL are jumping ship and creating disparate derivatives, what will be the one source we can trust. I don’t necessarily trust Oracle to shepherd the open-source process, which would ultimately lend credibility to MySQL and engender a period of adoption by enterprises. From a purely bottom-line perspective, It doesn’t make sense for Oracle to promote something which naturally competes with it’s already profitable offerings.
If indeed, MySQL is being cast out into the wilderness of so many open source products, it may have to wander the desert for a little while as the most prolific contributors coalesce around an authoritative source of code. This may be an opening for a new company to come in and fill the gap that has been left by MySQL’s changing hands, or Oracle may do what we all hope and keep MySQL’s vibrant community going strong. I think it will end up in the wilderness for some time and a new source will come out on top.
For the time being, we may not see any real changes that affect us, but it may be time to start dusting of the PostgresSQL skills.
Tags: MySQL
