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Oracle Responds To MySQL Purchase Concerns
Luke has no name writes "Yesterday we discussed MySQL founder Monty Widenius's objections to the acquisition of MySQL by Oracle. Today, Oracle released a statement to address some of these issues. Among their commitments, Oracle says they intend to continue releasing MySQL under the GPL, allow vendors to produce 'any-license' third-party engines, maintain the Reference Manual, invest millions into the product, and create a 'customer advisory board.' The pledges are still not enough for some, however."
I know I'm going to be modded down for this but why bother with MySQL at all? There are other better free databases out there. MySQL is still not even ANSI 92 compliant yet.
There are a number of MySQL forks, one of which is being operated by Monty's company, under the GPL. They don't seem to need BSD for that.
Bruce Perens.
groklaw quotes from his submission to the EC, pointing out things that he had specifically denied previous to this disclosure.
Oracle cannot kill MySQL. The code has been released via the GPL license. This means anyone can fork MySQL and continue to develop it!
Why are people so stupid!
It sounds as if you could be a little confused about this. MySQL owned the complete copyright to the MySQL server. So, they could commercially license it as well as provide it under the GPL. Most GPL projects do not have this capability, because no one entity owns the entire copyright and the aggregate of all copyright holders do not work together to dual-license.
So, Sun bought the rights to commercially license MySQL, and to enforce the GPL on those who do not have commercial licenses. Now Oracle will have that.
Bruce Perens.
But it seems he wants to have his cake and eat it.
What you meant to write is: he wants to eat his cake and have it too.
No... Bruce wrote the idiom correctly.
This author takes full ownership and responsibility for the unpopular opinions outlined above.
Personally, I wouldn't mind being screwed for a billion dollars.
The only reason they have to buy MySQL is that it is part and parcel of the Sun purchase. And they haven't gone around like Monty Widenius and his buddy, who are demanding that the EU violate the Bern Convention on Copyrights by invalidating the GPL on all versions of MySQL ever released.
Ever thought that's probably because the codebases are incompatible, and not for any nefarious reasons?
Monty Widenius wants to use MySQL code without having to distribute his modifications, because that's the only way his new business (Monty Program AB) can survive - by keeping the modifications closed. This is why he wants the EU to change the licensing - not just going forward, but retroactively. Totally illegal under international treaty, btw, but spoiled brat Monty doesn't care. He wants what he wants, and damn the GPL.
I've switched to PostgreSQL, and I must say that I enjoy looking back. It's like gawking at an accident on the side of the road. Reading the MySQL articles is a guilty pleasure now.
Forking is a feature of the GPL, just like mobility is a feature of a Segway: it's not the only tool that gets the job done, but the statement is still accurate.