This month's Linux Magazine development article was written by Mike Kruckenberg and I. It covers aspects of MySQL 5, including stored procedures, views, and triggers. It was actually quite fun writing the article. We chose to use Python and MySQL to build a simple stock-tracking application that takes advantage of openly available web services, some nifty Python packages, and of course, MySQL's newest features.

Mike and I plan on doing a follow up article (if Martin Streicher at Linux Mag will have us do it again!) on the other new features of MySQL 5 sometime soon. Also featured in this month's article is an interview with Mårten Micklos, MySQL's CEO, which I'm very interested in reading. Well, I guess it's off to the bookstore to purchase my own copy...

I was asked a few questions by a reporter thru a collegue, here is an extract of the discussion.

1) Based on your initial experience with Oracle Database Express Edition, what are your initial thoughts on the product in terms of meeting developer needs?

Installing Oracle 10g Express Edition was a breeze. (Article). In the past Oracle products have been more difficult to install, however this has gradually improved with the more recent version releases of 8i, 9i and 10g. This easy installation via rpm under Linux, in particular the inclusion of HTMLDB provides an ideal database environment that is functional in just a few minutes. This is an important first step in gaining initial developer support.

With the database installation, the Web Based HTMLDB Interface and a sound amount of developer articles online at the Oracle Technology Network ( …

In Dave's last harangue (no, the one that came after spanking Shai @ SAP), he asks:

I think SugarCRM is proving that replacing proprietary apps is really not that big of a deal, but does the world need 5 more open source CRM companies?My answer? Absolutely.

SugarCRM is helping to level-set expectations of what is really needed in a CRM system, and what it should cost [Note: I'm on SugarCRM's advisory board.]. Same with Alfresco in Enterprise Content Management [Note: I work for Alfresco], JBoss in application servers, MySQL in databases, etc. Some might call it commodification, or lowering the bar. I …

Now I want to be Sarah Lacy's biggest fan. (Eat your heart out, Dave.) Sarah politely tells me that I'm waffling on calling a spade a spade.

Or, in this case, a weak open source play a "weak open source play."

It started with the Ingres announcement, but it's really much more than that. There's a thought out there, as Sarah captures in her thoughtful blog post, that being "the open source alternative" is enough. Get out the gate first, as Dave has argued, and you win. Quoth Dave:

Open source is an interesting animal in that first-mover advantage seems to turn …

In lunching with an old Oracle Friend, the topic turned to Oracle 10g Express Edition, and we discussed the pros and cons for organisations. The first thing he asked me was, “Have you tried loading the database larger then the 4G limit yet”. Some People?

In general the consensus seemed that it was viable for a small organisation, good for a startup company to get into a no cost entry solution, but appealing to those venture capitalists as you have a definite growth pattern.

I’m warming to more actively pursing Oracle 10g Express Edition, especially with HTMLDB, and at present while preparing to submit a paper for an upcoming Open Source conference which I hope is accepted, I’ve allocated some time on the significant topic of Open Source Verses Free. Stay tuned.

It dawned on me later in the day to more closely investigate the Oracle RPM installation and where exactly everything went in the FileSystem. I was surprised …

I have been fairly negative on technology lately, partially because I am fed up with marketing hype (even my own) and partially because I am back as an end-user and consumer of IT products and services. I've also been languishing with the notion that many open source startups are grossly overestimating their potential market size. Then, as I was reading Matt's Finally a real database market, I realized that I was looking at it all wrong--limiting the market opportunity by the relative size that exists now.

The right metric isn't proprietary vs. open, but open vs. open where Microsoft either joins in or gets left behind.

Of databases and enterprise class
I keep wondering why the standard line is to claim MySQL is not enterprise class. Why don't people say that about …

Market: the world of commercial activity where goods and services are bought and sold) "without competition there would be no market"....

Thus spake WordNet. The denotation doesn't state that there must be multiple vendors to make a market, but I think the implication/connotation is there. Whoever heard of a market with just one player? Besides the office productivity suite market, that is. :-)

And so, we heard yesterday that CA is spinning off Ingres to form an independent company. (With a great person - Dave Dargo - to run it. I knew Dave when he was at Oracle, then Olliance. He's a huge asset to the Ingres team.)

My friend and alter-ego, …

I was tinkering a bit with integrating Wordpress and Gallery2 and in the process posted some photos from a trip to Prague I took earlier this year as part of a MySQL developer conference. If all works well, you can click the image below to see them:

Ok, lets start this post with the standard disclaimer about my opinions being my own, and not those of MySQL AB. Why? Because there's controversy afoot.

So what's happening Mike?

Well, dear reader, MySQL AB has gone and added another platform to the list of platforms that we build binaries for. Users of that platform will not only find binaries for their platform, they will also get a trial subscription to MySQL Network to help them use their shiny new MySQL server!

That does not sound so bad, where's the controversy?

Well, depending on who you are, there may be no controversy at all. You see, a press release was made last Friday announcing that the platform in question is SCO Openserver 6.

This has produced a variety of responses, several interesting examples of which can be found …

I just got the word from my manager that I'm going to OSCON this year. Whee! I've been wanting to go since '98, and it seems that this is the first time I'm going to be able to make it. I'm looking forward to it.