Given the timing of my recent blog, Are Proprietary Databases Doomed?, I've been asked if I knew in advance about Sun's recent MySQL acquisition. Not at all! I was just as surprised and delighted as most others in the industry when I saw the news.

In the blog I outlined counter strategies that proprietary database companies might use to respond to the rise of Open Source Databases (OSDBs). One strategy was acqusition and I noted that MySQL, being privately held, was probably the most vulnerable.

The good news is that MySQL is no longer vulnerable. Sun has an unparalleled commitment to open source. No other organization has …

Given the timing of my recent blog, Are Proprietary Databases Doomed?, I've been asked if I knew in advance about Sun's recent MySQL acquisition. Not at all! I was just as surprised and delighted as most others in the industry when I saw the news.

In the blog I outlined counter strategies that proprietary database companies might use to respond to the rise of Open Source Databases (OSDBs). One strategy was acqusition and I noted that MySQL, being privately held, was probably the most vulnerable.

The good news is that MySQL is no longer vulnerable. Sun has an unparalleled commitment to open source. No other organization has …

still wrapping my head around this whole sun thing, but i have to say that i am a little excited about some of what i see in sun’s explanation of their benefit package. above and beyond what mysql offers now, there is matching on the 401(k), a stock purchase program, and charitable contribution matching. there is also a tuition reimbursement program.

it does look like i’ll be losing some days off, or at least the flexibility on them (more holidays, less vacation time).

and there is a new employee referral bonus. so if you want to work for sun (or as i suspect mårten will be referring to it, mysql), wait a few months and let me refer you!

I’m sorry that I haven’t commented on the BEA acquisition. It’s just been too obvious for too long, I can’t get excited even though it’s really really big. Manifest destiny manifested, that’s it. On the other hand… Tip of the hat to Lucas Jellema at AMIS who posts his own commentary on the acquisition and also provides [...]

So I worked with MySQL for a full 2 days, basically one day on an airplane and another day in the new employee introduction we had in the Orlando meeting. Then I wake up the next morning, Mårten Mickos stands up on the podium with a shaky voice and tells the audience that Sun has bought MySQL. Then there is that 5 seconds of quiet when people realise that it was not a joke, it's for real. Or like me, it was 5 seconds when I realised that, hey, MySQL, that's us.

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Following on from my instant reaction to the news that Sun was acquiring MySQL for $1bn, the deal deserves some closer attention. Subscribers to The 451 Group’s TechDealMaker service can read the QuickTake and the full Deal Analysis, while a couple of points are worthy of further analysis:

• Despite the best efforts of MySQL and other open source software vendors, support is still routinely …

Play or download the podcast here: http://technocation.org/content/oursql-episode-24%3A-sun-shining OurSQL Episode 24: “The Sun is Shining” Sun Microsystems recently announced the purchase of MySQL. In this interview the day of the announcement, OurSQL asks Brian Aker about what this means for customers, community, Sun and MySQL. Tell us what you think of Sun buying MySQL by calling the [...]

Sun Microsystems recently announced the purchase of MySQL. In this interview the day of the announcement, OurSQL asks Brian Aker about what this means for customers, community, Sun and MySQL.

Tell us what you think of Sun buying MySQL by calling the comment line or sending your voice through Odeo!

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A friend pinged me late yesterday to talk about Sun's acquisition of MySQL. In his view, "someone had to" buy MySQL, but it was a case of buying into the past, rather than the future. Application servers like JBoss are a growth opportunity, he reasoned, while the database is largely yesterday's news.

As I noted to him, this couldn't be more wrong. As Tim O'Reilly notes, with the world increasingly database-driven, owning the database (and the data it holds) is increasingly, not decreasingly, important. The database is at the heart of the web economy, and the web economy is increasingly the heart of the global economy.

It will take us awhile to get there, but the trends all point that direction.

Does this mean that Red Hat should have acquired MySQL? Probably not, for a few good reasons.

...

I have a $10 bet (AUD or USD… whichever is worth more at the time) with Jeffrey r.e. a 5.1 GA release in $TIMEFRAME. He’s betting that it will be and I want to be proved wrong :)

(of course… who’s definition of a GA release we use hasn’t been mentioned… which will lead to a good laugh. :)