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Why MySQL grew so fast (O'ReillyNet)
Andy Oram examines
MySQL's success on O'ReillyNet. "So MySQL succeeds at
maintaining two faces. To paying customers, it's a traditional, responsible
vendor. To programmers and database administrators, it's a flexible,
responsive network of independently-minded developers in free-software
style."
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Why MySQL grew so fast (O'ReillyNet) Posted Apr 21, 2004 16:47 UTC (Wed) by bdw (guest, #16047) [Link] MySQL is no Orale or PostGreSQL. It still lacks a lof of features that are needed in enterprise class databases.But, to be fair, Livejournal.com has over 1 million active accounts, and they use MySQL. It seems to handle the load OK courtesy of database clusters.
Why MySQL grew so fast (O'ReillyNet) Posted Apr 21, 2004 17:16 UTC (Wed) by tjc (guest, #137) [Link] A MySQL article just wouldn't be complete without the obligatory PostgreSQL post. It's as sure as the sunrise. :-)
Why MySQL grew so fast (O'ReillyNet) Posted Apr 21, 2004 21:14 UTC (Wed) by tomsi (subscriber, #2306) [Link] It's not that the Postgresql fanboys are sore! It's just that they can't convert the MySQL community to their way of life.Why? All I know is the following: 1. MySQL is fast. It boils down to this, If point #6 is irrelevant, go for what you want. If not, see if you can work around point #6... Bottom line: both are great databases! Tom
Why MySQL grew so fast (O'ReillyNet) Posted Apr 21, 2004 22:49 UTC (Wed) by slamb (guest, #1070) [Link] 7. Incorrect statements in MySQL silently succeed with stupid behavior. Arguably, this makes its integrity checking completely worthless.8. The MySQL people have in the past derided the "advanced" features they have finally implemented or are in the process of implementing. Look at this commit to see what I mean. This does not give me confidence - I want a database written by people who have understood all along the importance of these fundamental requirements of a relational database. In general, the arguments for MySQL seem to be that it is easier, but it's not so if you want data integrity - your application is wholely responsible for assuring that. Even though it's all but impossible to do so on the application side in some cases. I can't let a statement like "they're both good" pass. I hate MySQL and have damn good reasons for it.
Why MySQL grew so fast (O'ReillyNet) Posted Apr 22, 2004 23:10 UTC (Thu) by shane (subscriber, #3335) [Link] I guess tomsi was incorrect: the Postgresql fanboys are sore.For the record, MySQL meets my needs, so I don't feel too bad about comments removed from documentation 3 years ago. Attitudes change. After all, didn't the great Linus himself say that there would never be large file support on 32-bit processors?
Why MySQL grew so fast (O'ReillyNet) Posted Apr 23, 2004 14:23 UTC (Fri) by piman (subscriber, #8957) [Link] Large file support on limited processors is an 'advanced' feature of OS kernels. This is more along the lines of if Linus had said 'We don't need multitasking' or 'protected memory is worthless'. Missing a core feature of a complex piece of software, be it an RDBMS or a kernel, is a serious problem for most users.On the other hand, just as DOS proves useful in a lot of limited systems, MySQL proves useful in a lot of "quick, we need need a DB backend for our website" situations. But no one calls DOS a modern operation system, and likewise no one should call MySQL a relational database.
Why MySQL grew so fast (O'ReillyNet) Posted Apr 23, 2004 15:12 UTC (Fri) by shane (subscriber, #3335) [Link] On the other hand, just as DOS proves useful in a lot of limited systems, MySQL proves useful in a lot of "quick, we need need a DB backend for our website" situations. But no one calls DOS a modern operation system, and likewise no one should call MySQL a relational database.Except that the specific complaint (MySQL not supporting foreign keys) hasn't been true for years. It really does seem like people just like putting MySQL down. For me the analogy with Linux is good. There was a time when Unix folks would laugh and point at Linux, since it was a "toy" operating system, and not to be used when you need a real OS. Not too many people say that now (well, maybe a few FreeBSD zealots). ;)
Why MySQL grew so fast (O'ReillyNet) Posted Apr 23, 2004 23:39 UTC (Fri) by marduk (subscriber, #3831) [Link] I'm bored. When's the next KDE vs GNOME religious war?
Product names are important Posted Apr 25, 2004 15:52 UTC (Sun) by kevinbsmith (subscriber, #4778) [Link] In addition to the various factors mentioned in the article, I think the name "MySQL" played a big role. When someone asked what databases were available, it was always easy to remember and say MySQL. Even though I wasn't using databases at that time, I knew about it.I even had a sense that MySQL wasn't the best technically, but had a much harder time remembering and pronouncing the other options. It's a bit unfortunate that simple marketing tricks can make such a difference, but it is reality. Friendster. Hotmail. Often, the name tips the balance against the competition.
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