MySQL 5.1 goes GA, Monty not happy

From the "better late than never" files:

MySQL 5.1 is now out, but not everyone is happy about this oft-delayed open source database release.

I've been hearing about MySQL 5.1 since at least 2006 and over the last two years there have been a few dates I've been told when it would be released. Earlier this year the plan was for it to be out by June , then that got bumped back. Last month, a Sun spokesperson told me the release would be generally available (GA) on December 9, but apparently MySQL 5.1 is now already generally available.

One of the reasons, I've been told over the years as to why MySQL 5.1 has been delayed is to ensure the quality of the release and to learn from mistakes made in the MySQL 5.0 release. It's an argument that MySQL founder Monty Widenius now disagrees with.

"The reason I am asking you to be very cautious about MySQL 5.1 is that
there are still many known and unknown fatal bugs in the new features
that are still not addressed," Widenius blogged.

Widenius argued that there are still at least 180 serious bugs in the MySQL 5.1 release - (as evidence of his allegation he points to a bug tracking page that shows many of the bugs). He also lists a litany of other errors that in his view should have been caught and corrected prior to a generally available (GA) release. The reason for the flaws is not due to developer dedication, according to Widenius, but rather due to the conditions in which the developers work.