Oracle's commitments for MySQL
Oracle shall continue to enhance MySQL and make subsequent versions of MySQL, including Version 6, available under the GPL. Oracle will not release any new, enhanced version of MySQL Enterprise Edition without contemporaneously releasing a new, also enhanced version of MySQL Community Edition licensed under the GPL."
Posted Dec 14, 2009 16:03 UTC (Mon)
by sylware (guest, #35259)
[Link] (1 responses)
Posted Dec 14, 2009 20:21 UTC (Mon)
by khim (subscriber, #9252)
[Link]
MySQL is in tough position: if it'll be acquired by non-DB company it'll
die slow and agonizing death (that's where it headed with Sun), DB company
(like Oracle) will be forced to somehow balance two (or more products). I'm not a big fan of Oracle, but I don't see "separate, small, vulnerable
company" as solution for MySQL, sorry. MySQL AB was barely profitable before Sun acquired it - and that's at
times where money were more readily available!
Posted Dec 14, 2009 16:20 UTC (Mon)
by dmarti (subscriber, #11625)
[Link] (2 responses)
Posted Dec 14, 2009 18:08 UTC (Mon)
by butlerm (subscriber, #13312)
[Link] (1 responses)
Posted Dec 14, 2009 19:05 UTC (Mon)
by dmarti (subscriber, #11625)
[Link]
What I don't get is: wouldn't you get a _stronger_ GPL MySQL if you eliminate the GPL buyout option? Some of the would-be proprietary licensees/enhancers will go use something else, but some who would have paid for a proprietary license will go ahead and accept the GPL. Think of how far Linux would have been set back if too many of the first-generation Linux companies had been working with bought-out non-GPL forks. Brian Aker: "Once software has been published under an open source license, it continues to be available, whether its current owners wish it to be or not." As long as Brian is at MySQL/Sun and Drizzle keeps making progress, it's hard for me to see the need for "saving" something.
Posted Dec 14, 2009 18:04 UTC (Mon)
by kripkenstein (guest, #43281)
[Link] (4 responses)
> As copyright holder, Oracle will change Sun's current policy and shall not assert or threaten to assert against anyone that a third party vendor's implementations of storage engines must be released under the GPL because they have implemented the application programming interfaces available as part of MySQL's Pluggable Storage Engine Architecture.
> A commercial license will not be required by Oracle from third party storage engine vendors in order to implement the application programming interfaces available as part of MySQL's Pluggable Storage Engine Architecture.
Basically, Oracle is saying that you can plug into MySQL's storage system without a commercial license. The GPL won't apply to the 3rd party vendor's code, just as if MySQL were LGPL. So, basically like how the Linux kernel doesn't consider userspace apps derivative works of itself, or content you make with Blender (even scripts) doesn't fall under Blender's GPL. Nice.
Honestly, there was little reason to oppose the Oracle-Sun deal before (given the GPL), but these additional commitments are above and beyond a minor compromise. I'm actually surprised they went this far. Impressive.
The Oracle-Sun deal is a shoe-in at this point, I'd say.
Posted Dec 14, 2009 18:18 UTC (Mon)
by butlerm (subscriber, #13312)
[Link] (3 responses)
Posted Dec 14, 2009 18:29 UTC (Mon)
by kripkenstein (guest, #43281)
[Link]
But what I see as the main issue here is that Oracle is basically addressing all the complaints about destroying the licensing model around MySQL with respect to 3rd party storage solutions. Oracle is saying, forget about all that revenue, let's get this deal passed.
Posted Dec 15, 2009 7:20 UTC (Tue)
by TRS-80 (guest, #1804)
[Link] (1 responses)
Posted Dec 15, 2009 7:46 UTC (Tue)
by TRS-80 (guest, #1804)
[Link]
Posted Dec 14, 2009 20:02 UTC (Mon)
by dfsmith (guest, #20302)
[Link] (1 responses)
Posted Dec 14, 2009 23:43 UTC (Mon)
by ajf (guest, #10844)
[Link]
Oracle's commitments for MySQL
The only sane thing to do in to sell mysql to a company which is not a oracle proxy or a company which is a proxy of a company which has some interests at sabotaging its developement (cf those which have a database product).
If you want to kill it for good, then yet
Meanwhile, Monty wants "Help saving MySQL". He wants MySQL will continue to be available under a proprietary license (not just renewals).
Oracle's commitments for MySQL
Oracle's commitments for MySQL
he really be serious? A legally binding, perpetual and irrevocable promise
not to raise prices? A legal requirement to never sell any versions with
closed extensions? Who except Redhat would agree to such terms, and why
would they pay a fraction of what Sun paid for it if they did?
what I don't get
License Improvements
License Improvements
like InnoDB, as opposed to developers of software that accesses the MySQL
server as a client. No doubt the latter is the primary source of revenue for
the product.
License Improvements
Monty is concerned about them too:License Improvements
If Oracle would accept third party GPL contributions to MySQL, this would mean that MySQL would have the same problems as a GPL library has: - MySQL can only be used together with GPL licensed code and licenses that are compatible with GPL; Unfortunately a lot of Open Source licenses is not compatible with GPL. MySQL can only be embedded in GPL programs - The FOSS exception, that ensures that Perl, PHP, Python programs are not affected by the GPL would not apply anymore - MySQL can't be used by any distributed closed source application - All commercial storage engine vendors (who have put 30-100 million USD into the MySQL ecosystem) will probably go out of business. It was because of the above problems that GPL is not a good license for a widely used library and why FSF invented LGPL. MySQL is a bit more complex than a normal GPL library, as one can build upon or inside MySQL, but it has essentially the same problems.
Never mind that MySQL AB changed the license on the client libraries from LGPL to GPL back in 2004! He's just a little bit disingenuous IMHO.
Sorry, the license change was done at the release of MySQL 4 2003, it was 2004 that PHP kicked up a fuss and stopped shipping the MySQL connector by default in favor of SQLite which caused the FOSS exception was added.
License Improvements
New features galore...
New features galore...