Who should own MySQL….Oracle, Microsoft or is it better off as free software?
Oracle is seriously concerned about the delay in the approval of its Sun Microsystems acquisition. Its fate is hinging on nothing else but what ultimately happens to MYSQL. The stakeholders are quite big in their own standards & also varied in terms of their operating markets.
On one hand Oracle itself is facing tough challenges from state bodies like the European Commission & on the other it’s a tussle between companies like Microsoft,( “actively seeking to scuttle the deal or even purchase MySQL for itself.”) & non-profit foundations & free software groups. Microsoft can be seen to have a massive vested interest in MySQL and whoever ultimately owns it. According to Gartner, via Reuters, SQL Server had a 18.1 per cent market share in 2008 compared to Oracle’s 48.6 per cent continued dominance (this is the market share for ‘paid for’ databases, thus MySQL hardly figures in Gartner’s report). Thus Microsoft is seriously lagging in the commercial database market & would want to use MYSQL to create a niche for itself in the commercial databases market.
Microsoft’s reason for buying MYSQL seems valid. However another school of thought is that of the free software foundation. It says it would preserve the software & make sure that no one else takes advantage of it to threaten Oracle’s position.
From Oracle’s point of view an immediate resolution is important as Sun is losing $100 million a month as rivals like Hewlett-Packard Co and IBM poach customers amid uncertainty about the closing of the deal.