Some thoughts on MySQL and Oracle

To me Widenius' request for help is not directly related to the FLOSS
nature of MySQL. He is concerned about the commercial support options for
the MySQL products, which BTW is the only thing that the EU EC is
interested in (market forces and all).

Interestingly MySQL being FLOSS also presents a solution to same problem:
namely a different entity being able to provide commercial support to MySQL
customers. And who would be better positioned to provided this than
Widenius?

I believe, Widenius is basically using this opporturnity to market himself
as an alternative provider of commercial MySQL support. MySQL mostly being
copyrighted by SUN (or Oracle) this would actually be a good thing, since
this time Widenius does not have the possibility to give out commercial
licenses but in all cases is bound by the GPL.

IOW from a FLOSS perspective, i don't necessarily approve of Widenius
actions, but their effect could lead to a much better position for FLOSS
MySQL.