Comments on: Oracle and MySQL: Ally or Die?

By: peterb

peterb — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:30:44 +0000

Based on today’s market it would be a management mistake to drop MySql because it offers a large customer base especially for the short term. Looking at it on a long term basis however, it could be used to harvest and move customers into either product depending on whether the conditions of Oracle’s current product strategy.

By: jerichvc

jerichvc — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:28:26 +0000

I wish google bought sun microsystems. :P

By: jeffvdovjak

jeffvdovjak — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:34:48 +0000

@ Tarh
Thanks!

@orokusaki
I know Oracle didn’t buy Sun Microsystems for their software — but as an added perk it’s pretty good. I just couldn’t see them abandoning any of it after spending 7.4 billion… They wanted the hardware and infrastructure – but getting those as bonuses are big bonuses. It can turn them into major internet players as well. They’d be smart to monetize it (adding paid features or support, ect…) Not to mention they could easily push into server farms with those names. It’d just be so foolish to throw them away. It’s like throwing away the roof racks, the spare tire, and the car mats because when you bought your new car you weren’t purchasing it for those extras…

By: Tarh

Tarh — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:47:06 +0000

evodanh:

hotmail, facebook, google is free but not opensource.

You missed the point of jeffvdovjak’s post. He wrote:

In the same way that…

to draw a comparison between the two scenarios. He never said that Hotmail, Facebook, or Google were open-source.

By: adimauro

adimauro — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:11:59 +0000

@W2ttsy

I agree completely. There is no logical jump from MySQL to Oracle. If they dump it, they will just be loosing all those users to another open source solution, not to mention all the web hosts out there that provide MySQL. It doesn’t make sense to drop it.

The real question: Will MySQL be re-branded? i.e. OracleFree, MyOracle…some name with Oracle in it? I could see them doing that, but not dropping it all together.

By: W2ttsy

W2ttsy — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:32:25 +0000

The free ware market is still very real (even more so in economic difficult times). It would be a massive failure to abandon that following. Especially when replacing it with a clumsy expensive enterprise solution. If mysql did get canned others like postgres would just take it’s place in the LAMP stack. Not many mysql developers would ever need oracle so canning it would just push the few leads towards another OSS solution

By: evodanh

evodanh — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 04:41:43 +0000

To jeffvdovjak:

Just because something is open source doesn’t mean you can’t make money. In the same way that if something is free you can still make money (think hotmail, facebook, google…)

hotmail, facebook, google is free but not opensource.

By: orokusaki

orokusaki — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:11:59 +0000

@jeffvdovjak

On that thought however, Oracle didn’t buy MySQL. They bought Sun’s superior hardware that trumps anything else in the world. They also didn’t buy Java. Those are just extras that came along with the package.

By: orokusaki

orokusaki — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:06:26 +0000

It is a ridiculous and very uninformed assumption on anybody’s part that Oracle would ever kill MySQL. It’s not really competition if they own it. The can position MySQL in a way that promotes Oracle now, rather than just funding MySQL and letting it be. Even if it wasn’t for that fact, killing the project would draw loads of negative attention to Oracle and make them “evil”.

By: jeffvdovjak

jeffvdovjak — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:48:29 +0000

I disagree – I think Oracle will keep it. MySQL is something that can be monetized and can provide hot leads for Oracle. As a developer who works with MySQL, if I run into a project that needs a lot more power than what I’m using, why would I move to anything except Oracle if they integrate tools and/or training.
But also, they could create a division that can offer training, books, seminars, support… they can make money from MySQL, just like Zend has made a company off PHP. Just because something is open source doesn’t mean you can’t make money. In the same way that if something is free you can still make money (think hotmail, facebook, google…). I think you’re understimating Oracle if you think they will simply abandon the project – not to mention that paying 7.4 billion dollars to simply kill a competitor? Having MySQL out of the way isn’t going to generate that much sales…