Some of the articles and blogs about Sun/MySQL’s growing Open/Closed Source forking has been pretty dramatic. ZDNet’s is one example…
Did Sun just my MySQL Closed Source?
MySQL was moving down this path by splitting features available in their Community and Enterprise editions long before Sun announced it was buying MySQL. So, I’m not placing the blame (if that is what it should be called) on Sun. I think it is just the reality of trying to stay in business in the Open Source world. It is tough to make money from a free product - even a great one like MySQL. If the model of selling services does not justify something like a billion dollar price tag, what then? For MySQL and Sun, the answer is to provide more value-added features for a price and closing the source.
Am I happy about this? Not hardly! But, I saw this coming and have been preparing for it. I’ve been looking at PostgreSQL since the day Sun announced buying MySQL. And, recently, it was pointed out to me that Ingres (which I used back in the 1980s) is now an Open Source product. I’m not going to suddenly stop using MySQL or recommend that people switch away from it. But, I think it is prudent to take a look at alternatives.
Hang on just a minute.
They've added some extra features to the Enterprise version, in the past, these features have later appeared in the community edition and there is no reason to expect them not to. Mickos has confirmed that himself.
Also it's not as if Mysql is developed in secret - the development process is quite transparent, and new features are appearing in new versions (both "editions").
As a heavy user of mysql I'm not concerned about this, if you needed an alternative then presumably you'd look at it properly but even thinking about jumping ship because some features provided by 3rd party proprietary companies will be made available as extras in the Enterprise Edition (which includes the source) would be foolhardy and rash.
Aaron: You are entitled to your opinion. My opinion is that being unprepared is foolhardy. If you read the entire blog entry, you would have read: I’m not going to suddenly stop using MySQL or recommend that people switch away from it. But, I think it is prudent to take a look at alternatives.
Who can resist the temptation of money. Its nothing personal, its just business. There goes petrol and raising food prices.
No point debating. Evil, the exact opposite of Live.