I'm worried
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| slippery Oct 12, 2005 6:09 AM EDT |
It seems like Oracle is buying InnoDB to remove it as a threat. It is no secret that InnoDB was modeled after Oracle. I am worried that soon Oracle will start selling a license if you want to use InnoDB with MySQL. If you need transactions with MySQL, you will have to buy a license or switch to the Berkeley DB storage engine, which works but only has page leveling locking. Or, it will drive a conversion to PostgreSQL. I am glad the InnoDB developers got a financial payoff for their hard work, but I think this is bad for MySQL. |
| tadelste Oct 12, 2005 7:35 AM EDT |
slippery: It's bad for MySQL. Two thoughts come to mind. First, Oracle presents a two edged sword. They support Linux as much as anyone, maybe even more than anyone, but they use it to sell a propietary database. As such, they view any database as a threat. That could lead to crushing opposition a la Redmond. Second, MySQL's CEO, while a very personable gentleman, needs to step out of his box. If something like karma does exist, here's his payback for making a deal with the devil, I mean SCO. |
| sbergman27 Oct 12, 2005 8:34 AM EDT |
Why should the open-source community be worried? MySQL AB should be very worried. MySQL AB's business model is to sell proprietary licenses for their proprietary product to their customers. Since the code is GPL'd, they need to maintain some sort of proprietary lock on it. They do this by requiring joint copyright agreements from all contributors, and by taking out proprietary licenses on the parts that they don't own. (That was their big mistake, leaving them open to the most time tested attack strategy in existence.) That way, they get the benefits of help and good will from the community, but aren't inconvenienced by the responsibilities that the GPL entails for the rest of us. All Oracle has to do is become a bigger supporter of OSS and the GPL by doing the right thing and leaving InnoDB GPL (which they have to do anyway), and making any enhancements to InnoDB available under the GPL *only*. No proprietary licenses. (And how can the F/LOSS community argue with that?) MySQL AB would then be forced to throw away much of the 4.x and 5.x work for their proprietary version (making it far inferior to its open-source counterpart), or (Gasp!) make their money on support. If I sound like I don't have much sympathy for MySQL AB it's because I don't. They've gotten much more good will from the community than they really deserve. Such is the power of good marketing... |
| tadelste Oct 12, 2005 8:41 AM EDT |
"If I sound like I don't have much sympathy for MySQL AB it's because I don't. They've gotten much more good will from the community than they really deserve. Such is the power of good marketing..." Steve: You nailed this one. |
| dinotrac Oct 12, 2005 8:54 AM EDT |
AND.... All the while, Postgresql has matured into a REALLY marvelous database. Plenty fast, plenty robust and plenty free, with the whole thing under the BSD license. Not to mention good standards support, an area where MySQL doesn't quite shine. |
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