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MySQL to Adopt Solid Storage Engine
hmart writes "As seen on ZDNet's Open Source Blog MySQL is taking another step to defend from Oracle's recent acquisitions of InnoBase and Sleepycat. From the article: 'MySQL responds by getting Solid Information Technology, a proprietary database vendor, to take its solidDB Storage Engine for MySQL open source, under the GPL, starting in June.'"
MySQL is about choice... You can choose to use it or you can choose to use something else. You can choose to store your data in InnoDB, BerkeleyDB, Cluster, MyISAM, Memory, CSV
"Choices" is positive spin. Some might say that MySQL is all about sacrifices. Here are some examples:
(1) "MySQL has many applications written for it"
* Not if you enable strict mode, or if you use storage engines that don't support the features you need.
(2) "MySQL is optionally SQL compliant with strict mode"
* Only if you want to forego 99% of the existing MySQL applications, and start fresh.
(3) "MySQL has transactions"
* Not in MyISAM, which means no full text indexing.
(4) "MySQL is free"
* Only if your application which links against the client library is also GPL.
(5) "MySQL is fast"
* Only if you use MyISAM, which means no transactions or many other features that aren't available in MyISAM.
I could go on. Anyone can talk about how MySQL has a feature, but you have to make sacrifices for those features. And I think many of those are bad, unnecessary sacrifices. MySQL implements features not to give their users choice, but to give MySQL AB a marketing advantage. Their advocates and salespeople will always say "yes" to all of those features above, but it's not until later that the customer realizes that they can't use the features together.
Social scientists are inspired by theories; scientists are humbled by facts.
The problem being once these important OSS coders see oracle source, they are tainted. Any further OSS contributions will have to be heavily scrutinized for IP violations.
So oracle does not need to keep them. They just need to expose them to even bits of their db source, and they have tainted the coder.
Devious, if you ask me. I am impressed. Or I would be if it didn't damage my own interests.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
This is typical LAMP programmer thinking. What do I need transactions and data integrity in a database for? I'll just code the checks into my application. I prefer instead to put checks both in the database and in the application.
This is no myth. MySQL's client libraries are definitely GPL. If you link to them you must abide by the terms of the GPL. Alternatively, you can purchase a license from MySQL AB. MySQL AB spins this up so much saying that they are open source but what they really mean is that they are open so long as you are open.
I'll stick with PostgreSQL. Unlike MySQL, PostgreSQL is a serious alternative to Oracle or MS SQL. It is also BSD licensed and thus there are zero restrictions on its usage within a commercial product and there is no need to purchase a commercial license.
MySQL is okay for the LAMP mentality but when you start getting in to ORM/ERM (Object/Entity relational mapping) with packages like Rails's Active Record or WebObjects's Enterprise Objects you need a more serious database. As another poster has pointed out in this thread I give it only a few more years before mainstream open source web development moves into the ORM camp.
"People who choose database vendors and make other such big IT decisions for companies like GM, Boeing, Wal-Mart and such, think "Open source = toy for the geeks"."
Yes that's why no large corporation in the world uses mysql. Hey wait a minute that's a complete lie isn't it? There are lots of fortune 500 corporations using mysql aren't there. Never mind.
"They want top notch support, perhaps even an Oracle team to be on-site for a couple of months during deployment, they want someone to blame and to complain to when things don't work right. MySQL provides support but it is just not going to be the same quality."
Spoken like somebody who has never bought support from oracle or mysql. If you pay mysql half of what you pay oracle for support they will give you the phone number of a developer. How is that for support?
Mysql offers some of the best support of any database vendor. Go ask any of their big costomers. Then compare what they say to the customers of oracle.
I don't mean to be a cheerleader for mysql but I really really get tired of the same old "you can't get support or blame somebody" FUD about open source.
It's over, strike that item from your big book of FUD and find something else to complain about mkay?
evil is as evil does