Why is SQL so popular?

[Raven]

I just started working with MySQL and PHP, and I convinced a couple of friends to do this too. One of them made this simple question: "Why is MySQL so popular? Why not use some other type of database, like for example one created with FoxPro?"
I know he might have said some stupid things here, but I did not have the arguments to explain to him why.
We both used FoxPro and Delphi to create some applications that were using databases, so maybe this caused some confusions.
Hope this makes sense to you. If someone knows what I'm talking about, please explain this to me, or guide me to some web site.

[Skunk]

Your topic should be "Why is mySQL so popular?" as SQL and mySQL are very different things (SQL is a language, mySQL is an actual database which happens to use SQL).

mySQL is so popular because it's fast and it's free - it also runs on windows and linux/unix and it's very, very easy to talk to from PHP or Perl. It's not the "best" database out there as it lacks several important features such as transactions but it's ideal for small-medium websites as it's free, fast and easy to use.

[redemption]

hmmm... i seem to have seen this thread b4...

anyways, MySQL is popular i guess mainly because it's free and it's open-sourced... i remember writing all this somewhere...