Thread: Oracle tried to buy MySQL
Christopher Kings-Lynne wrote: > http://news.com.com/Oracle+tried+to+buy+open-source+MySQL/2100-7344_3-6040197.html?tag=nefd.lede > > This probably means that the just bought Sleepycat and Innobase in an attempt to scare MySQL into a lower price. This also means that Oracle could also try to hurt PostgreSQL in a similar way (i.e. hiring all developers). However, since PostgreSQL developers aren't centralized, that would leave Oracle with a problem. Anyone in the world who wanted a job at Oracle could just hack some PostgreSQL code for a couple months :) Regards, Jeff Davis
On Thu, Feb 16, 2006 at 02:37:12PM -0800, Jeff Davis wrote: > Christopher Kings-Lynne wrote: > > http://news.com.com/Oracle+tried+to+buy+open-source+MySQL/2100-7344_3-6040197.html?tag=nefd.lede > > This probably means that the just bought Sleepycat and Innobase in > an attempt to scare MySQL into a lower price. > > This also means that Oracle could also try to hurt PostgreSQL in a > similar way (i.e. hiring all developers). > > However, since PostgreSQL developers aren't centralized, that would > leave Oracle with a problem. Anyone in the world who wanted a job at > Oracle could just hack some PostgreSQL code for a couple months :) I doubt that Oracle is unaware of the players and their roles in PostgreSQL's developer organization. Cheers, D -- David Fetter david@fetter.org http://fetter.org/ phone: +1 415 235 3778 Remember to vote!
David Fetter wrote: >> This probably means that the just bought Sleepycat and Innobase in >> an attempt to scare MySQL into a lower price. ... > > I doubt that Oracle is unaware of the players and their roles in > PostgreSQL's developer organization. I think it's more a matter of BDB & InnoDB and MySQL's customers that makes Oracle look there rather than here. Consider that with Sleepycat now Oracle can claim Google's Gmail is powered by Oracle technology Microsoft's Groove is powered by Oracle technology Amazon's A9Search is powered by Oracle technology AOL search is powered by Oracle technology Yahoo's Finance is poweredby Oracle technology while previously they had little traction in the high-traffic web space. (I had someone criticize an oracle-based dotcom company we were trying to sell with the comment "Oracle may scale technologically, but it doesn't scale financially".) And I'm not aware if before BDB Oracle had any embeddable products like those used in EMC's storage appliances and Sony's set-top boxes (which both use BDB) And with InnoDB they can claim Sabre / Travelocity, etc. I think they had a product-gap in that area, and went for the players with the biggest customer list there. I still bet that any Postgresql-based-company that had advertised comparable customer list would get Oracle offers very quickly.
Ron Mayer <rm_pg@cheapcomplexdevices.com> writes: > And with InnoDB they can claim Sabre / Travelocity, etc. I'm not sure that's actually the case. The impression I get (and I have declined to ask my "inside contact" on this ;-)) is that they are using MySQL for catalog cacheing applications where transactions aren't so necessary. (In other matters, I haven't heard any stories of either company dropping Oracle instances, and my "inside contact" has periodically been picking my brain on PostgreSQL tuning ;-).) On another note, it appears that "The Empire Strikes Back." <http://www.greenman.co.za/b2evolution/blogs/index.php?title=mysql_s_response_to_oracle_s_moves&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1> Apparently Jim Starkey, original InterBase implementor, has had his company, <http://netfrastructure.com/>, bought out by MySQL AB... <http://www.firebirdnews.org/?p=128> -- select 'cbbrowne' || '@' || 'acm.org'; http://cbbrowne.com/info/ Pagers are cases for holding dead batteries. -Richard Wolff
Jeff Davis wrote: > Christopher Kings-Lynne wrote: > > http://news.com.com/Oracle+tried+to+buy+open-source+MySQL/2100-7344_3-6040197.html?tag=nefd.lede > > > > > > This probably means that the just bought Sleepycat and Innobase in an > attempt to scare MySQL into a lower price. > > This also means that Oracle could also try to hurt PostgreSQL in a > similar way (i.e. hiring all developers). > > However, since PostgreSQL developers aren't centralized, that would > leave Oracle with a problem. Anyone in the world who wanted a job at > Oracle could just hack some PostgreSQL code for a couple months :) Yes, hiring our developers is one of our three risks. The other two are a copyright purchase from the owner (Marc), or a patent attack. -- Bruce Momjian http://candle.pha.pa.us SRA OSS, Inc. http://www.sraoss.com + If your life is a hard drive, Christ can be your backup. +
>> However, since PostgreSQL developers aren't centralized, that would >> leave Oracle with a problem. Anyone in the world who wanted a job at >> Oracle could just hack some PostgreSQL code for a couple months :) >> > > Yes, hiring our developers is one of our three risks. The other two are > a copyright purchase from the owner (Marc), I think you mean Trademark, at which point we just change our name so no big deal. Joshua D. Drake > or a patent attack. > > -- The PostgreSQL Company - Command Prompt, Inc. 1.503.667.4564 PostgreSQL Replication, Consulting, Custom Development, 24x7 support Managed Services, Shared and Dedicated Hosting Co-Authors: PLphp, PLperl - http://www.commandprompt.com/
Joshua D. Drake wrote: > > >> However, since PostgreSQL developers aren't centralized, that would > >> leave Oracle with a problem. Anyone in the world who wanted a job at > >> Oracle could just hack some PostgreSQL code for a couple months :) > >> > > > > Yes, hiring our developers is one of our three risks. The other two are > > a copyright purchase from the owner (Marc), > I think you mean Trademark, at which point we just change our name so no > big deal. Yes, sorry. I think ICANN would pull our DNS registry on the production of a document stating they owned the trademark, even if it was unenforceable. It would just delay us while we disputed it or renamed our project. (FYI, there has been talk of moving back to the old "Postgres" name, but that is just talk.) -- Bruce Momjian http://candle.pha.pa.us SRA OSS, Inc. http://www.sraoss.com + If your life is a hard drive, Christ can be your backup. +