Monty Widenius believes in open source and wants the popular free database he developed to remain viable long after Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems fades from the headlines. Datamation chronicles his fight to keep MySQL alive and why he believes that its demise is probably inevitable.
“I will do everything that is possible to keep MySQL alive,” says Michael (Monty) Widenius, the main developer of the well-known open source database. “I just hope it’s enough.”
Widenius is talking against the background of Oracle Corporation’s acquisition of MySQL along with the other assets of Sun Microsystems. According to Widenius, if allowed to stand, the acquisition will mean the eventual loss of MySQL as a first-class database without any adequate open source replacement.
Just as important, he sees the acquisition as bringing the GNU General Public License (GPL) into disrepute and the exclusion of free and open source software from the consideration of anti-trust laws. And as the acquisition gradually gains approval throughout the world, the chances of avoiding these results is appearing increasingly remote.
The last two years have been hard on MySQL. Ever since Sun’s purchase of MySQL in February 2008, the future of the database has seemed increasingly uncertain.