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Why You Shouldn't Panic About Closed Source MySQL Extensions

Posted by Soulskill on from the time-will-tell dept.

jfruhlinger writes "Oracle has released proprietary extensions to the open source MySQL database, seeming to reinforce the worst fears of those in the open source community who opposed Oracle's acquisition of MySQL in the first place. But open source observer Brian Proffitt urges you not to panic: This dual source strategy really isn't unusual in the commercial open source world, Oracle has already released a bevy of open source improvements to the database, and anyway the EU extracted a commitment to keep MySQL open for another four years when it approved the Sun-Oracle merger."

4 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Just another 4 years... by unixisc · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... after which Oracle will be @ liberty to digest MySQL as closed, and the EU will have nothing to say about it.

    1. Re:Just another 4 years... by d4fseeker · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And, as with OpenOffice, the community will fork the Database and add a bunch of useful features to it.
      Finally Oracle will either "donate" MySQL back to the community or keep it closed source and everyone will move over to PostgreSQL.
      4 years is 2 Server and, depending on your scneario, 1-3 Software Generations away so let's not panic before Oracle has committed to anything.

  2. "open for four years" by KiloByte · · Score: 5, Insightful

    By "keep MySQL open for another four years", they mean "pay lip service to its life support, then on day 1462 stop even that". Sorry, but unless one of independent forks really takes off, I'm not going to even look at something else than Postgres. For that "bevy of open source improvements", what exactly has been added? Heck, MySQL development has been dormant even during Sun days.

    --
    The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
  3. Why you shouldn't panic? by eexaa · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...because if you aren't already running some better DBMS, chances are that you are probably generally unable to panic about any DBMS quality.