Sun buys MySQL - what about PostgreSQL?
There is one thing that strikes me in the Sun MySQL thingy - what about Sun’s previous commitment to PostgreSQL, where they say stuff like: “PostgreSQL for Solaris 10 is the open source enterprise database platform of choice”?
Tim Bray comments on the deal and totally dismisses any alternatives:
MySQL, you know, in my experience, it, well, Just Works. Runs great on our hardware and OS. Well, OK, GNU/Linux too. What else is there? For databases, nothing that matters.
I strongly prefer PostgreSQL over MySQL, and I have previously used Sun as a reference for it. Perhaps no more.
January 17th, 2008 at 4:31
then, you can buy PostgreSQL.
For the time being, I think Sun strongly prefer MySQL.
January 17th, 2008 at 4:34
They bought MySQL AB, the company behind it. AFAIK, there isn’t one company behind PostgreSQL in that way so who would there be for them to buy?
January 17th, 2008 at 5:11
With the popularity of MySQL, the user base is a lot larger than PostgreSQL. MySQL has been really catching up with it’s 5.x releases in what it can do. I found MySQL a lot easier to setup and deal with (which was about 3 years ago).
I’ve seen that PostgreSQL can be faster - only when you introduce complex queries - but with the buy out - this might tighten the race.
Of course you do have PostGIS - which looks like it would help me a lot in my dev’ing…
Of course if I really needed speed - I would probably look more into InterSystems’s Cache DB (http://www.intersystems.com/cache/index.html)
January 17th, 2008 at 8:02
MySQL is not a relational database. This was a huge waste of money. It is the lowest common denominator for databases.
January 17th, 2008 at 10:08
Michael, Jon
It goes without saying that Sun most certainly prefer MySQL over anything today. And you can’t buy PostgreSQL (good thing actually). My question is just what will happen with their support for PostgreSQL which up until this point has been very strong.
January 17th, 2008 at 15:27
I think that MySQL and PostgreSQL target two very different DB use cases, much in the same way there’s a difference between MS Access and Oracle. One is a lightweight, toy-DB, and the other is heavier but much more powerful. Why can’t you have two different favourite DBs depending on the application you’re working on?
January 17th, 2008 at 15:31
Jon Gilkison hit the nail on the head. PostgresSQL doesn’t have a company behind, hence there is nothing to purchase. MySQL AB has quite a few companies that purchased their commercial license and support packages. Bottom line, there’s revenue to be made with the MySQL AB purchase.
January 17th, 2008 at 16:39
Enrique,
While you might be right in theory, I do not believe Sun thinks it has bought itself a 1 billion dollar toy.
And to be fair - MySQL is a lot better than Access.
January 17th, 2008 at 16:41
Tony,
Should I take your comment as you think they will drop support for PostgreSQL?
January 18th, 2008 at 22:57
I like these two posts. I wonder if Sun has plans in the mentioned direction:
http://www.jroller.com/dk/entry/bundlingjavaglassfishwithmysql http://www.jroller.com/dk/entry/ltfollowupon_jlamp