“MySQL is the clear category leader in Open Source databases;
it’s the ‘M’ in the LAMP stack that also includes Linux, the Apache
Web server, and the Python, Perl, and PHP scripting languages. And
LAMP underpins a huge portion of the Open Source software world. As
a result, MySQL–like JBoss before it was acquired by Red Hat–made
a nice little business of selling support subscriptions for its
software. Indeed, it was one of the more successful of the
more-or-less pure standalone Open Source companies…”
“Sun has acquired MySQL for $1 billion in cash and options.
That’s now old news. The implications of the deal, however, have
yet to be felt, but there are several key things that this deal
means for open source.“In no particular order:
- Sun is directly competing with Red Hat to become the heart of
the open-source business community. I’ve written before that either
Red Hat with its operating system or MySQL with its database could
become the center of an alternative ecosystem to the Proprietary
Bloc (Oracle, Microsoft, IBM). With Sun at the helm of MySQL, MySQL
just became a lot more credible in this role as it has cash to
match its ambition…”
“The rumors had been flying for a while that MySQL was looking
for a buyer and Sun Microsystems was interested in purchasing the
open-source DBMS powerhouse. Why? Because Sun has wanted to offer
its enterprise customers a compelling end-to-end software stack for
their needs.“It’s a truism in enterprise-level software buying decisions
that at the end of the day what matters isn’t the operating system
or any individual program. No, what determines who gets the big
contract is either 1) who has the best DBMS for the company’s
purposes or 2) who has the best top-to-bottom software
stack…”
[ Thanks to The VAR
Guy for this link. ]
“Sun Microsystems finally matters again. The company is buying
MySQL, the open source database leader, for $1 billion. That’s huge
news for Sun, systems integrators and the open source community.
But this new opportunity for Sun also includes five key challenges,
according to The VAR Guy. Here’s a look at those challenges, and
how Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz (pictured) will need to address
them.“First, let’s rewind a bit. A year ago, The VAR Guy told
Schwartz to bet the company on open source applications…”
“We knew that Sun (JAVA) has been lusting after a real software
business in addition to Solaris. We knew that Sun “shares” — that
it digs open source, including Solaris and Java. And we knew that
Sun had a love-hate relationship with Oracle (ORCL) and a hate-hate
relationship with IBM (IBM) and Microsoft (MSFT).“So toss this all in a big pot, put on simmer and you get a
logical–if not three years too late–stew…”
“Some open source software [OSS] purists on the blogosphere–and
some outright double-dipping conflicted for-profit OSS company
executives–have been beating the drum for over a year about the
upcoming parade of IPOs that we would see from the OSS movement.
But reality happened, market forces intervened, Yahoo (YHOO) bought
Zimbra, Citrix (CTXS) bought Xensource (paying way too much), and
the OSS IPO marching band kept getting smaller and smaller.
Wednesday Sun (JAVA) acquired MySQL, pulling the lead trombone of
the OSS IPO parade, out of the line of march. The marching band is
about to become a quintet…”
“I’ve been part of the due diligence team and having seen all
the data, I think this move is a great step for Sun, MySQL and the
FOSS communities. For Sun, because it means we now have the ability
to offer support on a full web operating system – OpenSolaris,
Glassfish, MySQL, NetBeans and much more. For MySQL, because it
means the next phase of growth can ride the proven global
organisation Sun provides to delver support and other value to
customers…”
“Today we have 400 some MySQL employees gathered in Orlando for
our all-company meeting that kicks off separate departmental
meetings for Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Services etc. Although
we’ve routinely had all-engineering meetings and sales kickoffs
every year, this is the first time in a couple of years we’ve
gathered the entire company.“There’s a tradition at these big meetings that there’s always
some kind of surprise…”
Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.
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