"Sun's acquisition of MySQL did not go smoothly; most
of the MySQL leaders (both commercial and project) have left Sun
and the people who are left are sitting with their CV and ready to
press send.
"Oracle, not having the best possible reputation in the Open
Source space, will have a hard time keeping the remaining MySQL
people in the company or even working on the MySQL project. Oracle
will also have a hard time to ensure to the MySQL customers,
community and users that it will keep MySQL "free and available for
all".
"Now, Widenius probably knows the developers of MySQL better
than anyone, and if he says that most have already left, and that
those who haven't are about to depart, that's probably correct.
This has major implications for MySQL, since it would leave the
corporate side of the project hollowed out. But as both Widenius
and I emphasised, that does not mean the end of the project itself.
Indeed, Widenius is willing to get actively involved to ensure the
latter lives on"
