DynamoDB (aka LucidDB) is not just another column store database. Our goal is being the best database for actually doing Business Intelligence; while that means being fast and handling large amounts of data there’s a lot of other things BI consultant/developers need. I’ll continue to post about some of the great BI features that DynamoDB has for the modern datasmiths.

First feature to cover that’s dead easy, is the built in ability to generate a time dimension, including a Fiscal Calendar attributes. If you’re using Mondrian (or come to that, your own custom SQL on a star schema) you need to have a time dimension. Time is the most important dimension! Every OLAP model I’ve ever built uses one! It something that you, as a datasmith will need to do with every …

As eWeek reports, the EC handed down a formal objection to the Oracle-Sun deal. To quote the article:

The regulators see a major conflict of interest in the world's largest commercial database company owning its largest open source competitor.

Oracle responded with a statement yesterday. To quote from it:

It is well understood by those knowledgeable about open source software that because MySQL is open source, it cannot be controlled by anyone.

Yes, thank God that true Open Source (as we knew it 10 years ago) can't be controlled by anyone and everybody has the right to fork the software (as has already been done by forking into Drizzle or …

I need help with this. I had a dream… Well, not so much as a dream, maybe a “It’d be cool to…”

I thought it’d be nice to discover new photos on flickr using your favorite photos and the people who also favorited those photos, and the favorite photos of those who also favorited my pictures. Still with me?

It’s actually a quite simple code (about 500 lines, check it on github: discovr), but it’s terribly slow. Some possible reasons:

• Way too much data. I’ve found people with around more than 18000 favorites, and there are photos with more than 2k fans. After limiting to 50 last …

I was working on a server today that was not hooked up to our usual monitoring systems for one reason or another and I needed to generate a database tuning report. Typically I use Matthew Montgomery’s ‘tuning-primer.sh’ script for this since it’s command line based, simple to use, and generates a number of useful items for tuning recommendations. It’s a great starting point before delving into the deeper aspects of MySQL and the OS.

I ran into an issue with it on this server that was running the MySQL 5.0.77-percona-highperf-b13-log x86_64 build. The error was:
./tuning-primer.sh.1: line 517: 5.000000: syntax error in expression (error token is ".000000")

There were three options to fix this issue

1. Dive into the code and modify it cowboy style
2. Use our typical monitoring against the client’s wishes
3. Contact the developer to get a fix

I hopped on …

1. ChipHacker -- collaborative FAQ site for electronics hacking. Based on the same StackExchange software as RedMonk's FOSS FAQ for open source software.
2. Democracy Live -- BBC launch searchable coverage of parliamentary discussion, using speech-to-text. One aspect we're particularly proud of is that we've managed to deliver good results for speech-to-text in Welsh, which, we're told, is unique. I think of this as the start of a They Work For You for video coverage. I'd love to be able to scale this to local government coverage, which is disappearing as local newspapers turn into …

Well, what a soft launch it has been.
Some people have asked:

When are you going to get a website? Errr…. Soon! We soft launched a bit early, due to some “leaking information” but figured heck, it’s open source let’s let it all out. Soon enough, I swear!

Where can I download DynamoDB? Errr… you can’t yet cause we haven’t finished our build/QA/certification process.

However, since DynamoDB is the alter ego business suit wearing brother of LucidDB, just download the 0.9.2 release if you want to get a sense of what DynamoDB is.

There are 3 built binaries (Linux 32, Linux 64, and Windows 32): http://sourceforge.net/projects/luciddb/files/luciddb/luciddb-0.9.2/ and you can find installation instructions …

For very personal reasons that don’t belong in this article, I decided a few weeks ago that it’s time for me to move on. The year and a half that I worked for Pythian have been a wonderful experience, and this is article is my tribute to this great company.

The MySQL Team

Being able to work side by side with two MySQL experts like Sheeri Cabral and Augusto Bott has been a great experience. I have learned a lot, not only about MySQL, but also about what a great DBA should be like. Both of them are recognized MySQL Community members and regular speakers at the MySQL Users Conference and other events. Sheeri has been named MySQL Community Member of the Year twice in a row. Both are a guarantee of excellent service.

My Predictions For Pythian

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The two predominant forms of open source licenses are BSD and GPL. PostgreSQL is licensed under the BSD license , while MySQL is licensed under GPL . While the details are arcane, the business impact is significant, and that is what this post addresses.

The BSD (or BSD-style) License: This license basically says: ‘This code is provided as is, do what you want with it, and include this copyright in your resulting product.’

The GPL License: This license, also known as the copyleft license, essentially says: ‘This is free and distributed as source code, and any addition or extension must also be distributed under these exact terms.’

BSD essentially says I prefer open source code, so I’m making my source code open and freely available, but what …

Amazon’s SimpleDB isn’t a relational database, but it does provide elastic scalability and high-availability. Amazon’s recently announced Relational Database Services (RDS) is a relational database, but it doesn’t provide elastic scalability or high-availability. If you are deploying enterprise applications on the cloud (including Amazon Web Services), you might want to look at ScaleDB because it is a relational database and it does provide elastic scalability and high-availability.

Amazon describes SimpleDB by comparing it to a clustered database:

"A traditional, clustered relational database requires a sizable upfront capital outlay, is complex to design, and often requires extensive and repetitive database administration. Amazon SimpleDB is dramatically simpler, requiring no schema, automatically indexing your data and providing a simple API for storage and access. This approach eliminates the administrative burden of …

Amazon’s SimpleDB isn’t a relational database, but it does provide elastic scalability and high-availability. Amazon’s recently announced Relational Database Services (RDS) is a relational database, but it doesn’t provide elastic scalability or high-availability. If you are deploying enterprise applications on the cloud (including Amazon Web Services), you might want to look at ScaleDB because it is a relational database and it does provide elastic scalability and high-availability.

Amazon describes SimpleDB by comparing it to a clustered database:

"A traditional, clustered relational database requires a sizable upfront capital outlay, is complex to design, and often requires extensive and repetitive database administration. Amazon SimpleDB is dramatically simpler, requiring no schema, automatically indexing your data and providing a simple API for storage and access. This approach eliminates the administrative burden of …