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The Ups and Downs of MySQL AB

Posted by Hemos on from the pick-the-battles-to-fight dept.

Wannabe Code Monkey writes "Forbes has an article about a recent MySQL deal with SCO and the reaction from the open source community: "It's been a rough week for Marten Mickos, the chief executive of open source database maker MySQL AB. First his most dreaded rival, Oracle acquired a company that supplies a key piece of MySQL's software, a move that could make life difficult for Uppsala, Sweden-based MySQL, which has the most popular open source database. If that wasn't bad enough, Mickos is being denounced as a traitor by noisy fanatics in the open source software community because last month he dared to make a deal with SCO Group, a company reviled by fans of Linux and other open source software.""

3 of 210 comments (clear)

  1. Groklaw Interviews MySQL AB CEO Marten Mickos by anandpur · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=200510112 11450706

    * no money went to SCO from MySQL, so MySQL is not supporting SCO financially
    * it was SCO seeking out the partnership, not the other way around
    * MySQL had stopped supporting SCO in 2004
    * MySQL did not put out the press release about the partnership. Mickos did provide a quotation for the press release however. Here's the press release in question, taken from MySQL's web site. http://www.mysql.com/news-and-events/news/article_ 948.html

  2. Re:Confused about licensing by team99parody · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The problem is that MySQL's business depended on a dual-licensing model where they selling a proprietary-licensed version of MySQL. Sure, they could keep using the GPL'd InnoDB in the GPL'd version of MySQL; but they can not incorporate the GPL'd InnoDB in the proprietary MySQL.

    Ironically, if Oracle insisted that future supported versions of InnoDB only be released as a GPL'd work - it could be one of the greates things for MySQL-the-GPL'd-product and one of the worst things to MySQL-the-company.

  3. Learn from the IBM case. by khasim · · Score: 5, Insightful

    MySQL AB has all the licenses to MySQL.

    They release it under a dual license.

    Now they're accepting SCO money to "partner" with them to develop MySQL so it works better on SCO's server software.

    Now, do a quick search for SCO & IBM & "Project Monterey". See the parallels? And SCO has sued THREE partners/customers over code use.

    The question will come down to what contracts cover what money being spent in what ways to write what code and who owns what rights to what code.

    Personally, I see this as just a way for SCO go try to get possession of the MySQL code base. Only an idiot would sign a developmental contract with SCO after everything that's been revealed from the court cases.