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MySQL Cofounder Says Oracle Should Sell Database To a Neutral 3d Party

alphadogg writes "Oracle should resolve antitrust concerns over its acquisition of Sun Microsystems by selling open-source database MySQL to a suitable third party, its cofounder and creator Michael 'Monty' Widenius said in a blog post on Monday. Oracle's $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun is currently being held up by an investigation by the European Commission. The Commission's main concern seems to be MySQL, which was acquired by Sun in January 2008 for $1 billion. A takeover by the world's leading proprietary database company of the world's leading open source database company compels the regulator to closely examine the effects on the European market, according to remarks made by Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes last month. The key objective by Widenius is to find a home outside Oracle for MySQL, where the database can be developed and compete with existing products, including Oracle's, according to Florian Mueller, a former MySQL shareholder who is currently working with Monty Program AB on this matter." Richard Stallman agrees.

6 of 207 comments (clear)

  1. 3D? by clone53421 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, those 2D parties are shallow and make for thin plots.

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  2. Your input has been noted by e2d2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'll take "Things you should have thought about before selling to Sun" for 1000 Alex

  3. Maybe I'm missing something.. by amicusNYCL · · Score: 5, Insightful

    MySQL is open source. Why is there a big argument about who controls it? If whoever is controlling it goes in a direction that people don't like, don't you just fork it? If people really are worried about the future of MySQL, shouldn't there already be a fork?

    --
    "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
  4. Big business kills open source... by Kate6 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This makes me think of nVidia's purchase of 3dfx. 3dfx (makers of the famous Voodoo series of video cards) were very friendly to the open source community... They played a very pivotal role in the realm of 3D rendering on Linux when it was still in its infancy, contributing significantly to OpenGL. Then nVidia bought them and discontinued its entire product line... And something like 6 months later it was announced that nVidia won the contract to make the graphics chips on the original Microsoft X-Box. Coincidence?

    MySQL, by virtue of being an open source product available in a "community" version for free, has become a central part of the business model of countless small businesses. And it's just fallen into the ownership of its biggest closed-source, for-pay competitor. This could potentially have ramifications for the global economy as a whole. Very scary.

  5. Speaking of tables by ClosedSource · · Score: 5, Funny

    Everybody leaves the Ark and Moses addresses the animals "Go forth and multiply".

    So all the animals go into the forest, but Moses notices two snakes that haven't moved.

    "Why don't you go and multiply?", He asks.

    One of the snakes answers "We can't, we're Adders!".

    So Moses and his sons chop down one of the trees and form it into a rough-hewn table.

    He addresses the snakes and says "Here is your log table, now go forth and multiply".

    1. Re:Speaking of tables by LordKronos · · Score: 5, Funny

      Moses had an Ark, too?