Blog: Pete Loshin

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April 18, 2008

Clarifying the MySQL "Closed-Sourcing" brouhaha

Remember yesterday? Well, I was reading that post again and realized that it's not entirely clear what Sun is actually doing with MySQL. Here's another article about the whole thing, MySQL Not Going Closed Source? that you can check out, but the gist of it is this:

MySQL Server is still (and always was) open source. The difference is not (as I might have implied yesterday) that the Enterprise product was going to be different. What's actually happening is that if you are an Enterprise customer (meaning, you're paying the big bucks for the Enterprise license), you get some extra "add-ons".

Somehow, calling them "add-ons" made a big difference (for me, anyway) in understanding what's going on: Sun is giving their customers another reason to pay extra for Enterprise MySQL. The add-on in question, this time, is online backup. If you want to do online backup with MySQL at this point, you have two options:

1. Buy the Enterprise edition.
2. Program your own online backup add-on, or hire someone else to do it.

Sun Senior VP and former MySQL CEO Marten Mickos spelled it out, pretty much in those words.

I believe in free and open software as much as the next person. I also think that companies "selling" open source software have not just the right but the obligation (to their shareholders) to find a business model that allows them to continue to publish open source software. Enterprise customers have special needs--needs that generally don't intersect with the needs of most individuals or small groups who are using the software--and that as a result, it makes sense to have enterprise customers get the extra add-ons as part of their licensing fees.

Am I wrong?

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April 17, 2008

Is Sun/MySQL selling out, or just selling?

Here's some news: MySQL, Sun's still-shiny new open source database acquisition, will be adding new features to its Enterprise (that is, paid) version that won't be added to the Community (free and open) version.

Here's the story at ComputerWorld: MySQL reserves features for paying customers; open-source community up in arms.

Oddly enough, though, the story seems to have originated on Jeremy Cole’s blog:
Just announced: MySQL to launch new features only in MySQL Enterprise. No press releases, and the news articles I've seen so far seem to be pointing to this blog entry (and MySQL honcho Marten Mickos' response/confirmation to the entry) as their primary source.

That tells me one of two things is happening: either Sun/MySQL is trying to pull a fast one and sneak this new development under everyone's radar, or else this is just business as usual and not anything to get upset about--or at least, not be surprised about.

You can read about "user outrage" in the ComputerWorld article, as well as on Slashdot (Sun to Begin Close Sourcing MySQL). But Sun has to find a way to make that MySQL acquisition pay off, somehow.

On the other hand, as Dana Blankenhorn points out here (Did Sun just make mySQL closed source?), MySQL started limited source code access to its Enterprise version last year--if you want to see the code, you've got to be a paying customer. That's fine: if you've paid for an Enterprise license, you get to see the source code (and do what you want with it).

It shouldn't surprise anyone when a company that runs an open source project tries to make it pay off. The good news is that there is a huge--and strong--open source MySQL community, and that (as Mickos pointed out) anyone who likes could develop their own, free and open, version of the features that aren't going to make it into the community version.

I'm sure we'll be hearing more interested news from the open source database players in days and weeks to come (including from me!). One of the exciting aspects of this development is that it illustrates and illuminates some of the most critical issues facing paying and non-paying users of open source software, as well as the vendors who are trying to build their businesses on free software.

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April 9, 2008

Good news for cloud computing?

TechCrunch reports Source: Google To Launch BigTable As Web Service. Now, this is just a rumor, but:according to the article:

Google may be releasing BigTable, its internal database system, as a web service to compete with Amazon SimpleDB, according to a source with knowledge of the launch.

For the record, BigTable is Google's "compressed, high performance, and proprietary database system" (per Wikipedia). And Amazon's SimpleDB should sound familiar: I've written about it before, here Amazon SimpleDB and here More about Amazon's SimpleDB....

So--if true--this could be very good news for anyone who wants enterprise (and I mean BIG ENTERPRISE) database systems, for minimal up-front investment, from two of the very biggest Internet database businesses.

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April 7, 2008

Yet More on OpenID

Here are some more links to OpenID knowledge:

• Could it be? Is OpenID Being Exploited By The Big Internet Companies? According to Michael Arrington, four big companies--Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL--have all announced "support" for OpenID, but haven't put in the effort to make OpenID work to anyone's benefit but their own. Arrington suggests that maybe these Internet biggies are gaming the OpenID universe. A good read.
• Here's a nice OpenID resource: OpenID Status Check: A Guide to Getting and Using Your OpenID. Mostly, a list of links to OpenID resources, but not a bad place to start out if you want to try OpenID yourself. There are even some links to help you roll your own OpenIDs.

Any other good pointers? Let me know...

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