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You are here: News > News > Open Database Alliance to Keep MySQL Alive
| » IT Security NEWS |
| » 15 May 2009 |
| Open Database Alliance to Keep MySQL Alive |
| Michael "Monty" Widenius, one of the original developers of MySQL, has established a faction that aims to become the industry headquarters for the popular open source database, particularly in the continued evolution of his old brainchild. The founding of the Open Database Alliance (ODA) was announced just this Wednesday. The two establishing parties of this non-vendor-biased group are Widenius and his engineering company, Monty Program, and the MySQL help and support organization, Percona. According to a statement issued by the newly formed ODA, their association intends to act as a focal point for MySQL and its derivative code, support, training, and binaries. In particular, the ODA will work on the programming and services for Widenius's MySQL division, MariaDB. Incidentally, MariaDB is a commercial-grade branch of MySQL founded by the MySQL community, and it's named after its source, the Maria storage engine. In turn, the storage engine is named after Widenius's daughter in order to avoid copyright infringement because Sun Microsystems currently possesses the trademark for the name "MySQL". On that note, here's the situation behind the founding of ODA: Sun Microsystems, the present overseer of MySQL, is about to be acquired by Oracle. Oracle has its own propriety database that's a major competitor to MySQL, hence the company's bid to merge with Sun in the first place. The ODA even outright affirms in its statement that it was formed partly due to the "uncertainty" facing the MySQL community to date. The ODA statement elaborates that ODA intends to combine all MySQL-related services and development in order to offer a viable resolution to "the fragmentation and uncertainty facing the communities, businesses, and technical experts involved with MySQL." Widenius adds that ODA wishes to support a truly "open development environment" wherein the MySQL community is free from vendor self-interest and can work to develop MySQL code excellence. Widenius is confident that the participants of his MySQL alliance will have an influential role in how ODA is structured. He is optimistic about cooperating "with anyone in the industry that provides or depends on MySQL." Before ODA came about, Widenius had already expressed concerns over the future of MySQL, especially considering Oracle's impending takeover of Sun. The threats of both Oracle's acquisition of Sun and the disbursement of developers originally assigned to further the development of MySQL has pushed Widenius to form ODA and ensure that his open database creation remains healthy and relevant for years to come. |
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