I pledged, in my first post last month, that SkySQL will do its part to promote the best of MySQL and its community. Given the recent discovery that Oracle is no longer publishing test cases for bug fixes, and the dialogue surrounding it, it feels like the right time to share my thoughts on what this means to the open source collective, and what we can do – and are doing – about it.
If you read some of the posts by the community and the media, like this one from TechCrunch, there is a faction that believes Oracle is willingly moving to end MySQL as we know it. While I do think Oracle’s decision to not make these issues public creates a burden for developers and users of MySQL, I’m also interested in the thoughts of Giuseppe Maxia, a former MySQL AB team member and current partner at Continuent. According to that train of thought, Oracle is most likely not intentionally damaging the MySQL ecosystem, but this move and its recent decision to go for an Open Core model is making it more difficult for developers and users to work with MySQL and is giving them a reason to consider the benefits of migration to another open source database.
The MariaDB team were the first to notice that there were no test cases with recent bug fixes, and this discovery created much backlash and confusion in the community.
Over the past few years MariaDB has evolved to become a truly open and very competitive alternative to MySQL. According to the 451 Research Group’s survey it's the largest MySQL fork, and 18% of MySQL users are considering or already using it as a MySQL replacement.
MariaDB daily downloads and hits have risen dramatically over the past week as an increasing number of MySQL users explore their alternatives. Many of them have discovered that the migration to MariaDB is both simple and reliable - as easy as upgrading from one MySQL release to the next.
SkySQL works closely with, and contributes to, MariaDB, because we share Monty’s belief that the MySQL ecosystem can only remain more competitive and vibrant as a true open source environment.
Together, we aspire to offer a compelling evolution path for the MariaDB server combined with high quality support and a broad range of complementary tools and technologies for MySQL users.
SkySQL enterprise customers reap the rewards of this close working relationship by being among the first to know of new MySQL issues – and receiving timely fixes for them with test cases included.
Stay tuned for more details on how SkySQL, along with MariaDB and our other trusted partners, will better service its enterprise customers and the MySQL community.
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