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Is MySQL Planning a Change of Tune?

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the license-switcheroo dept.

Iggy writes "After reading the article on 'The MySQL License Question' by Timothy R. Butler at Open for Business I just have to wonder, is this company's wording on the MySQL site indicating the company is backing away from Free Software, specifically, the GPL? Great reading and certainly thought provoking."

3 of 403 comments (clear)

  1. Nothing new here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    You've always been able to buy a commercial MySQL license for a commercial app. Personally, I'd be using PostgreSQL for any serious database work in any case (assuming Oracle or other commercial database isn't a requirement) -- it's much closer to what I'd expect from a database than MySQL.

    Nothing to be concerned about here, folks. Move along. Move along.

  2. Free software by Sir+Homer · · Score: 5, Informative

    The article states that this doesn't effect free software at all. Only commerical software that links to MySQL requires a licence, as it always has been.

  3. Re:Brings to mind a question.... by offpath3 · · Score: 5, Informative
    If no one has gotten a copy of it yet, then they can re-license the code however they want and no one would be the wiser.

    This is actually an unfortunate misconception about the GPL. By releasing code under the GPL, you are by no means giving up your ownership over the copyright under that code. As the owner of the copyright, you're welcome to do anything you want with it, including licensing it under any other license you see fit, and MySQL does just this. They offer MySQL under two separate licenses, one GPL, one not, and you can pick which one you want to use.