it's not a war

Story: Extinguishing LAMP: Sun Buys MySQLTotal Replies: 7
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tuxchick

Jan 16, 2008
11:24 PM		 A lot of FOSS proponents claim that "choice is good." Well, does that mean only choice of different Linuxes? I think a SAMP stack would be great, as would an improved Solaris. It's still weak in x86 support, and very weak in administration tools, which is the big weakness of all the oldtime commercial Unixes. Otherwise it's a powerhouse with a lot of attractive features. I rather like that the FOSS contagion is spreading into proprietary and commercial houses.
phsolide

Jan 17, 2008
12:38 AM		 Besides that, isn't PostgreSQL an open-source RDB? The PostgreSQL web page [HYPERLINK@www.postgresql.org] says it's distributed under a BSD license.

I kind of doubt that Sun would bother trying to take MySQL proprietary. They just don't have a history of that, in fact, quite the contrary. They seem to have opened up the old System V code base - you can find it under "Heirloom Tools" on sourceforge, I believe.
Steven_Rosenber

Jan 17, 2008
12:57 AM		 The more competition in operating systems, the better, I say. Linux needs to feel the heat from the BSDs, Solaris, OS X, and even Windows. Choice breeds better software. And if nobody's crying foul when Apple buys CUPS and Google hires away a bunch of big-time FOSS developers, why shouldn't Sun swim in the same pool?
r_a_trip

Jan 17, 2008
4:14 AM		 Sun can't extinguish LAMP, they can only add SAMP. (I don't think Sun is on the war path here, though.)

Besides, the source code enjoys all the protections of the GPLv2. If the worst case scenario happens, it can always be forked into "OurSQL".
gus3

Jan 17, 2008
4:44 AM		 The source code may be GPLv2, but the documentation is a different story:

Quoted:
This documentation is NOT distributed under a GPL license. Use of this documentation is subject to the following terms: You may create a printed copy of this documentation solely for your own personal use. Conversion to other formats is allowed as long as the actual content is not altered or edited in any way. You shall not publish or distribute this documentation in any form or on any media, except if you distribute the documentation in a manner similar to how MySQL disseminates it (that is, electronically for download on a Web site with the software) or on a CD-ROM or similar medium, provided however that the documentation is disseminated together with the software on the same medium. Any other use, such as any dissemination of printed copies or use of this documentation, in whole or in part, in another publication, requires the prior written consent from an authorized representative of MySQL AB. MySQL AB reserves any and all rights to this documentation not expressly granted above.

[HYPERLINK@dev.mysql.com]

Any fork requires all-new, from-scratch documentation.
r_a_trip

Jan 17, 2008
8:31 AM		 The source code may be GPLv2, but the documentation is a different story:

So the devil is in the details. In case Sun goes Darth Vader, only half of the goodies are "out in the open".

Not that I expect Sun to go dark side. They may be chaotic and a PR disaster, but they are pretty friendly as a company when it comes to coexisting with competitors.
jezuch

Jan 17, 2008
9:26 AM
Quoted:
they are pretty friendly as a company when it comes to coexisting with competitors.


Oh...
That explains a lot...
Especially this:

Quoted:
Question 4. Why doesn't Wall Street think highly of Sun?

"I have no idea," was the initial reaction. Gosling pointed out that if Sun were measured by cash flow, it should value Sun much more highly. "Our cash flow is great and our stock price sucks," he said, noting that a lot of companies were in the exact opposite position. He also pointed out the irony that much of Wall Street runs on Sun products. In particular, the NASDAQ exchange is "a Java app running on a bunch of Sun boxes", and they seem happy as clams.


(from a Q&A with James Gosling, [HYPERLINK@weblogs.java.net])
Steven_Rosenber

Jan 23, 2008
9:02 PM		 Is the tide swinging from i386 boxes back to Sun hardware? The backend at my shop for the past few has been a couple of Sun servers (with maybe 1,000 i386 clients).

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