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Gov't GSA Office goes MySQL
comforteagle writes "MySQL has won a five year contract with the US General Services Administration office putting it in yet another government office on top of NASA, the Dept. of Def., Los Alamos National Labs & the Census Bureau. This additional win allows around 70 Government customers to purchase and deploy MySQL."
GSA is not just another gov't office. Once you are on the GSA Schedule, then many other government offices and agencies can simply buy your product without any additional paperwork. This means that the on-ramp to MySQL just got *much* easier for many groups in the U.S. govenment.
To quote: "With the GSA contract, GS-35F-0131R Schedule 70, government customers will be able to purchase and deploy MySQL through Carahsoft Technology Corp. The GSA schedule is effective Dec. 20, 2005 through Nov. 19, 2009."
See the magic words "GSA Schedule?" This is a Very Good Thing(tm).
They recommend that all commercial entities use the commercial license. And if you call them to discuss the ins and outs of their licensing scheme, they'll try to talk you into the commercial license anyway.
Here's a nice blog entry about this scariness.
P.S. You're right. You *are* the bad analogy guy. You win.
Writerati
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/innodb-fore ign-key-constraints.html
Those are off the top of my head. There are more.
Using MySQL does not mean having to GPL your applications that access MySQL. Just quit it. That's not the way the GPL works and you know it. I'll wait for the rabid zelots to go into detail, but use some common sense.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
It depends on:
- how you talk to MySQL (using sockets? Not an issue)
- Whether you bundle it or simply tell the user "you need MySQL"
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
It greatly depends on how you 'use' it.
:)
Lets say you have a Java app that, in whatever way, uses the standard jdbc classes. One of your users chooses to use the MYSQL jdbc drivers to connect to a MySQL server. Your app doesn't need to be GPL, imo, because the only code YOU used was sun's JDBC code. Your user chose to link it to the GPL'd drivers and it's their responsability to adhere to the license. Since they can't distribute your code (they don't have it) as long as they don't distribute the binaries to the app, they are not in violation (since the code bit only applies to distribution).
HOWEVER, if you either specifically tell the user to use MySQL or expect the GPL mysql driver in your code (ie, specifically referencing the driver in the connect setup) then you are in GPL territory.
Now lets say you have a C/C++ app and you link in the mysql library (either statically or dynamically). The mysql client lib is under gpl and you, if you distribute your application, would be required to release it under the gpl - after all, you are using gpl'd code. The only way around this would be to find or develop and use a non-gpl driver.
The real answer, anyway, is that it depends on what you are linking to and how you link to it. Yes, simply connecting to a MySQL server does not implictly bind you to the GPL - just like Microsoft isn't required to GPL internet explorer because it can talk to a GPL'd webserver. However, if you are using the GPL'd drivers to connect, you are in GPL territory (not because you are connecting, but because you are using the GPL'd code to do it).
Oh, and IANAL and IMHO and YMMV and TANSTAAFL.
Price, Quality, Time. Pick none. What, you thought you had a choice?
Hardcase hit the nail.
... Your TP is on the way. Writing the specs this way is extremely easy when the TP sales rep writes the specs for you. Oops... I mean, the sales rep makes "suggestions". Having them write it would be (cough, cough) illegal.
As a former Contracts Administrator for a computer oem, I may be able to shed a little light on how all this works.
Basically, if your product (toilet paper, paper clips, software, whatever...) is on the GSA schedule, then the various government agencies are allowed to purchase it. If your widget is not on the schedule, then they can't.
There are a number of ways around the rule of "GSA-Buy, No GSA-No Buy", but that is the way its suppossed to work. For those that are curious, here are a couple of ways the various governemtn agencies can get around the GSA...
1) This is probably the easiest way to get around this rule - Simply buy the widget via a different contract (schedule=contract). Your favorite toilet paper isn't listed on GSA, but it is listed with XYZ MAS? And, it "just so happens" that your agency is allowed to buy via XYZ? Go ahead and buy all you need.
2) Another "popular" way to get around the rule is for the agency that needs whatever product to write their request in such a way that only 1 particular product can meet the specifications. Government rules allow for such exceptions. "I don't care if its not on the list! Our agency simply MUST have toilet paper that is produced in Walla Walla, Washington by non-caucasion midgets with two left hands." Ta-Da
Now, lets assume that your specific government agency strictly abides by the GSA, and your favorite TP is on the GSA schedule. Here's what happens, more or less...
1) Agency writes up their needs. (2-ply TP, blue flowers, single roll wrapped)
2) They submit their needs to a buyer.
3) Buyer looks at the GSA list.
4) Buyer chooses whatever the heck s/he wants. - "Least Cost" is the typical over-riding factor in the decision.
It's not particularly hard to have the buyer buy the specific TP that you want. It may be more expensive in actual dollars, but "look at the customer service! Surely that's worth something!"
Everywhere above that I mention TP, substitute MySQL... Its the same. Its a product.
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I'm rambling, so I'll wrap up now...
-If anyone in government really wanted MySQL, they could have gotten it with or without GSA.
-Now that MySQL is on the GSA, so what? People won't "buy" it on a whim. Someone has to sell it. (And I mean "sell", in a used car type of way.)
-That 5 year contract? It's really a 10 or 15 year deal. Extensions are easy.
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I've over-simplified quite a bit, and I should probably have defined MAS, RFP, RFQ, SAS, etc. but I don't want to ramble anymore.
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Have fun.
M
This is not just wind in sails. In fact, MySQL AB have on staff (and have had for a couple of years now) several highly knowledgeable and qualified individuals whose primary job is to work with the developers to maximise MySQL's SQL:2003 compliance, and changes in this direction occur with each release. (Yes, I said "maximise" - nobody implements all of SQL:2003 completely.)
If you run the server in Traditional or Strict mode, I think you might be surprised. (The reason this isn't the default behaviour is due to all the legacy apps out there that expect the old non-compliant behaviour.)
The parent is either (a) ignorant of this, or (b) aware of it and thus trolling.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
This morning, the NYTimes reports the GSA's website for contract bidding has been shut down due serious security flaws.
c ure.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/13/technology/13se
"The security flaw, which could have permitted contractor fraud, was reported to the agency's inspector general on Dec. 22, but almost three weeks passed before the system was taken offline Wednesday afternoon. The General Services Administration is the federal agency responsible for procuring equipment and services, including computer security technology, making the lapse all the more striking. "This is the government entity responsible for letting contracts for security," said Mark Rasch, chief security counsel for Solutionary, a security firm. "Clearly the people who log in would know about security.""
and freebsd is better than linux.