MySQL = credibility? [LWN.net]

MySQL = credibility?

Posted Apr 3, 2008 18:56 UTC (Thu) by dmarti (subscriber, #11625)
In reply to: MySQL = credibility? by ncm
Parent article: Sun Microsystems' Next Linux Move (Seeking Alpha)

Or they could just have bought it for the same reason they bought StarOffice. Commoditize the Complement.

(And besides, if you run a proprietary software company, a dollar in another proprietary software company's bank account is a bad thing. The other company will just spend it gaming the legal system, offering low up-front prices and locking in customers, and bidding up programmers' salaries. The poorer and more desperate Sun is, the better Oracle does, and vice versa.)

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MySQL = credibility?

Posted Apr 3, 2008 22:20 UTC (Thu) by ncm (subscriber, #165) [Link]

You seem to be saying that this gives MySQL credibility, more than it does Sun, and at
Oracle's expense, leaving more money for the customer to spend at Sun.  I'll buy that, but not
for $1B.  

It might be a defensive move, if there was a threat somebody else (IBM? HP?) might buy it
instead.

add it up

Posted Apr 4, 2008 1:09 UTC (Fri) by dmarti (subscriber, #11625) [Link]

Yeah, it's a few hundred million of MySQL's value as a going concern, a few hundred million of anticipated value in being able to sell it to Sun customers, a few hundred million of commoditizing the complement, and a few hundred million of Valley "ha ha u r l@merz!!!"

On the other side, we get Oracle supporting btrfs, so yay Freedom.