The SHOCKING news from today's LinuxWorld is that MySQL is a business and sometimes makes business decisions, as Linux.com reports. The headline screams that MySQL is closing off source code access to the community.

The truth is completely different.

As Kaj Arno notes on his blog:

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By now, word has gotten around that MySQL has made some more changes to their process around MySQL Community Server. The changes primarily focus on:

• acceptance of community contributions (5.0 and 5.1 are now locked for contributions, so any contributions won’t be available until 5.2 or later)
• release schedule of community server (”Mature GA”, meaning 5.0, will have approximately 4 source builds per year and 2 binary builds; new GA, meaning 5.1, will have a binary build once per month)

These refinements of the community server [process] are detailed in Kaj Arnö’s blog. Not everyone is happy about the new plan for acceptance of community contributions, because it means that community enhancements have to wait a long time to see the light of day. Jeremy Cole has talked about the frustrations that this causes and calls the …

Now for some logrolling at its finest. I thought I’d try to help Sheeri, the MySQL She-BA, spread the word about the 21st episode of her OurSQL podcast as it is the second of a two-part interview with Pythian pres. Paul Vallée. The topic is, “The Rise of the MySQL DBA.” [...]

If you’re good at English and skilled at using MySQL, you should know that we have recently posted an opening for a certification exam writer to bolster the maintenance and creation of new MySQL certification exams.

It’s a job with a lot of aspects: Targeting new MySQL products, translations, updating our exams to match the evolving features of the existing products, and much more. There is much work to do, but too few heads and hands to put to the task of doing all this.

What I’m looking for is a person who has the right combination of excellent written English-language skills, careful attention to details, and of course good working knowledge of MySQL. If you have experience working with training materials or testing, all the better!

Your skills in producing error-free, well-constructed writing is the most important aspect of the job. If you have technical skills, such as PHP programming, great! …

I met with some of the folks from Hyperic up at LinuxWorld San Francisco yesterday. They have just released the latest version of HQ 3.1, and won an award for best systems management software at the show. HQ is used at a growing number of companies including the likes of eHarmony, Ogilvey advertising and we also license their SIGAR technology at MySQL. What's unique about HQ is that the SIGAR technology is fully extensible so its easy to add new types of resources that can be monitored. The latest version adds the ability to manage ColdFusion, Jetty, TomCat6 along side... READ MORE

I noted earlier today in Refining MySQL Community Server that it would be

just a matter of time and someone will start building RPM/Debian packages from the source repository.

I clearly didn't have my first cup of coffe yet when writing that as off course I forgot we already have DorsalSource

I noted earlier today in Refining MySQL Community Server
that it would be

just a matter of time and someone will start building RPM/Debian packages from the source repository.

I clearly didn't have my first cup of coffe yet when writing that as off course I forgot we already have DorsalSource

So I do not quite get it. Where is the technical difference between the Enterprise and the Community Server of MySQL now that MySQL AB has effectively back paddled from their commitment made with the initial split? If the Community Server now does not get new shiny features and be stable like the Enterprise Server, where is the difference? Jeremy is asking the same question. Where is the new test bed for community contributions?

It all seems to boil down to either there is none and MySQL AB has effectively gone back to status quo, leaving the Enterprise server as a way to make their paying customers feel like they are getting …

With the my blog entry yesterday on Refining MySQL Community Server, did anything really change? If so, was it for the better or for worse for the community?

My answer is “not much”, and “for the better”, but feel free to disagree.

Judging from some reactions in the community, a lot changed, and for the worse.

• Mike Kruckenberg feels that MySQL takes another step away from Open Source, through no longer publishing the sources for the Enterprise incarnation of the MySQL Server.
• Jeremy Cole claims that the MySQL Community split is officially …