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MariaDB vs. MySQL: A Performance Comparison
Nerval's Lobster writes "MariaDB is a fork of the MySQL source code, split off in the wake of concerns over what Oracle would do with MySQL licensing. In addition to its role as a 'drop-in replacement' for MySQL, MariaDB also includes some new features that (some claim) make it better than MySQL. Jeff Cogswell compares MySQL and MariaDB and suggests (in his opinion) that there's 'more than enough reason to ditch MySQL and switch over to MariaDB and stay there.' Why? While he breaks down MariaDB's new features and thinks many of them aren't that fantastic, and while MariaDB's performance isn't that much better than that of MySQL ('MariaDB's performance appears a bit better on multi-core machines, but I strongly suspect that one could tweak MySQL to match'), the questions over Oracle and MySQL licensing give him pause. 'MariaDB shows every indication that it will be around for quite awhile, while you can't really say the same of Oracle's MySQL,' he writes. 'Free-and-open MySQL competes with Oracle's proprietary and extremely competitive tools. That alone is grounds for concern — will Oracle do something to impede MySQL's development?'"
I think concerns about Oracle's long-term plans for MySQL are valid to ask.
If it isn't making Larry money, what did he buy it for and what is he planning to do with it?
Oracle isn't exactly a customer friendly company (just ask anyone who had an older Solaris machine when Oracle bought Sun and got told they needed to buy a support contract to even access docs), so I've always wondered why they would buy a free database and continue to develop it and give it away.
If I was choosing based purely on open-ness, something which doesn't have the chance of Oracle coming along and closing it otherwise strong-arming people would be a plus.
I guess it legitimately is FUD, but sometimes, there's valid reasons to mistrust such entities. And having dealt with Oracle over the years, they themselves are a very strong reason to be suspicious.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
I think concerns about Oracle's long-term plans for MySQL are valid to ask.
If it isn't making Larry money, what did he buy it for and what is he planning to do with it?
Oracle isn't exactly a customer friendly company (just ask anyone who had an older Solaris machine when Oracle bought Sun and got told they needed to buy a support contract to even access docs), so I've always wondered why they would buy a free database and continue to develop it and give it away.
If I was choosing based purely on open-ness, something which doesn't have the chance of Oracle coming along and closing it otherwise strong-arming people would be a plus.
I guess it legitimately is FUD, but sometimes, there's valid reasons to mistrust such entities. And having dealt with Oracle over the years, they themselves are a very strong reason to be suspicious.
Oracle maintain multiple open source initiatives. *I'm * not making any claim about wether these are maintained 'correctly or not, because the truth is that I am not in a position to state factually what the true state is.
But - people still use Virtual box. People still use Java. People are still using MySQL.
I'll pitch - even though I struggle to think its true - that if Oracle maintained them well, and if a true state exaists where the smaller MySQL may lead to an upgrade when things get large to Oracle DB - I can see why a vendor might say to itself that damaging our own product isn't productive. If they trust us implicitly doing a good job on MySQL they will believe the same basic premise on the day they need heavier iron and DB.
It is understandable commecially to look at things and remove or kill things that are done and have a fork in them. Its another to just vandalise in an unthinking stupid way a well grounded, popular and well regarded product.
The core question got asked at the end of the first post:
That alone is grounds for concern — will Oracle do something to impede MySQL's development? Citation and real evidence required.
The real world, true answer to that question is the real guide, other stuff and argument is fluffy..
We`re all equal
How is Oracle crippling MySQL?
By just sitting on it, and not improving it.
Years ago, MySQL lacked many features that kept it from being a "real" database. Over the years, it has added transactions, stored procedures, triggers, etc. If that trend continued, why would anyone use Oracle? If Oracle just shut down MySQL, the momentum would shift to PostgreSQL or MariaDB. So by keeping MySQL alive, but stopping the improvement, Oracle is holding back free alternatives from competing with them.