“As I’m occasionally reminded, MySQL didn’t start out as open
source. In fact, MySQL’s original license was very similar to what
it is trying to achieve today: Free for noncommercial use, but
not-so-free for commercial use. It didn’t decide to go open source
(GPL) until 1999.“So for those of us that get caught up in MySQL’s decision to
keep some extensions closed to paid subscribers, perhaps a
refresher course in MySQL history will make it seem a bit less
shocking. (Also be sure to check out the early 2001 brouhaha over
trademark violations surrounding MySQL.org. Fascinating
stuff…)”