Following our new Milestone-based release model, we've now published MySQL 5.5.0-M2. Please see the "What's New in MySQL 5.5" section of the reference manual for a summary of the most notable changes. The MySQL 5.5.0 Changelog provides a much more detailed list of changes, bug fixes and improvements.

Highlights in this release include:

The InnoDB plugin (currently at version 1.0.5) replaces the built-in InnoDB storage engine. This version includes a number of important performance …

In an amazing display of chutzpah, Monty Widenius recently asked on his blog for people to write to the EC about the takeover of Sun by Oracle and its effect on MySQL, saying:

I, Michael "Monty" Widenius, the creator of MySQL, is asking you urgently to help save MySQL from Oracle's clutches. Without your immediate help Oracle might get to own MySQL any day now. By writing to the European Commission (EC) you can support this cause and help secure the future development of the product MySQL as an Open Source project.

"Help secure the future development"? Sorry, but that ship has sailed. Specifically, when MySQL was sold to Sun. There were many other missed opportunities over the years to keep MySQL as a good open source project. Some of the missteps:

• Bringing in venture capitalists
• Selling to Sun instead of making …

It has been a tough Autumn for all of us so it is a pleasure to finally blog on some good news! O'Reilly has finally announced the next MySQL User Conference.

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The previous version, MySQL 4.1, instead, will be retired completely. It has ended its extended period. As such, it will be removed from the download page, and also from the download archives. Next year, if you want …

The previous version, MySQL 4.1, instead, will be retired completely. It has ended its extended period. As such, it will be removed from the download page, and also from the download archives. Next year, if you want …

The previous version, MySQL 4.1, instead, will be retired completely. It has ended its extended period. As such, it will be removed from the download page, and also from the download archives. Next year, if you want …

Last week, my colleagues Giuseppe, Kai and myself attended the SAPO Codebits event in Lisbon, Portugal. Codebits is an annual, invite-only hacking event, which went on for three days. The venue they chose this year was the "Cordoaria", a former rope factory located in the Belém district, close to the 25 de Abril Bridge (which is an impressive sight!). I have been told that the Cordoaria is the longest building in Portugal and I have no doubts about that! The building is so long that the crew used bicycles to get from one end to the other. I've taken a number of …

Following on from our earlier announcement, Paul McCullagh has responded with the answers to your questions - as well as a few I gathered from other Percona folks, and attendees of OpenSQL Camp. Thank you Paul!

What’s the "ideal" use case for the PBXT engine, and how does it compare in performance?  When would I use PBXT instead of a storage engine like MyISAM, InnoDB or XtraDB?

Unfortunately it is not possible to point to a specific category of applications and say, "PBXT will be better here, so try it".  PBXT is a general purpose transactional storage engine, designed to perform well on a broad range of tasks, much like InnoDB.  However, PBXT's log-based architecture makes performance characteristics different to both MyISAM and InnoDB/XtraDB. Tests show that PBXT's performance is similar to InnoDB but, depending on your database designed and the application, it can be faster.

PBXT is a …

I forwarded on a list of questions about PBXT to Paul McCullagh today.  While Paul's busy answering them, I'd like to announce that Robert Dempsey (InfiniDB storage engine) and Bradley C. Kuszmaul (TokuDB storage engine) have also accepted an interview. If you have any questions about either storage engine, please post them here by Friday 20th November.

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We've been busy expanding our training curriculum to include training for developers building applications with MySQL.  We have reached the point where we're ready for a pilot teach - and it brings me great pleasure to announce that we're opening it up for blog readers to attend, free of charge.

The details:
San Francisco
4th December
9:30AM - 5PM

Spaces are limited, so to give everyone a fair chance we're delaying registration to open at noon tomorrow (Friday) Pacific Time. It's strictly first in first served, so be quick!  The registration link is here.

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