“With the rare exception, most of the open source database
vendors have declined to storm the castle,
believing–correctly–that they were not in a position to compete
effectively in such markets. Many also accurately anticipated that
even if they were technically equivalent, the strategic importance
of the software and the attendant risk to changes to it would
preclude migrations, wholesale or otherwise.“At which point, open source database vendors had a choice: pack
up the tents and head home, or attempt to capture or create new and
emerging markets…”