Open Source, Open Questions 2Open Source, Open Questions 2

MySQL isn't exactly like Linux. Its server source code is owned and developed by MySQL AB of Sweden. But the code is public, and it circulates freely among a community of MySQL enthusiasts and programmers who test and debug the software. MySQL AB, with approximately $12 million in revenue last year, follows the Red Hat business model by selling commercial-license versions of MySQL along with technical support, training, and other services for users.

Marten Mickos, MySQL AB's CEO, maintains that MySQL isn't competing head-to-head with commercial databases and all their bells and whistles. The focus is on fast, reliable, easy-to-administer commodity database software for new applications, augmenting installed databases or replacing older ones during system overhauls.

MySQL is as scalable as Oracle or DB2 and can crunch at least as many transactions as those systems, Mickos claims. The research firm AMR, however, says that while MySQL easily supports gigabyte-scale databases, it isn't a safe bet for any database that's expected to grow into the terabyte range in the next three years.

MySQL also lacks key capabilities such as triggers, views, and stored procedures, which are standard in commercial databases. Those aren't merely bells and whistles, but critical functions for many corporate database applications. Other major weaknesses: Few packaged applications run on MySQL, and big-name software vendors such as PeopleSoft, SAP, and Siebel Systems don't support it.

Some companies find they outgrow MySQL. Fairfield Language Technologies, which develops Rosetta Stone foreign-language learning software, used MySQL to provide content to its Rosettastone.com and online language-learning centers, as well as to manage licenses of online customers. But the company recently decided it needed the scalability and server redundancy of Oracle's database-clustering technology. Fairfield will still use MySQL for several in-house applications, says Robert Bland, VP of operations, finance, and IT.

Park Health Systems LLC, which develops clinical applications for hospitals and medical researchers, last month abandoned a project to build applications on MySQL in favor of using database software from Pervasive Software Inc. "It simply isn't mature enough for us to do what we wanted to do," says president Bruce Fielding, citing MySQL's lack of triggers and stored procedure capabilities. MySQL requires significant staff time for installation and configuration, he adds.

MySQL AB is developing version 5.0 of the database. The work in progress includes stored procedure capabilities for building executable code into a database, "cursors" that aid navigation within the database, and "views" that programmers use to create virtual views of all the tables in a database. It's expected to be generally available early next year.

MySQL AB needs to balance adding those capabilities against increasing cost and complexity, which could sap its key advantage, Mickos acknowledges. He adds that new features will be optional for users who don't need them, and growing sales volumes will cover development costs and keep prices low for commercial MySQL licenses.

Last year, MySQL AB expanded by taking over development of SAP DB, an open-source database controlled by SAP. Renamed Max DB, the database has triggers, stored procedures, and other capabilities that MySQL lacks. Max DB, which can run SAP applications, is positioned to compete more directly with Oracle and IBM DB2. But it raises the possibility of confusion with two open-source databases coming from one vendor, as well as diluted programmer attention. "We will let the markets decide what they want to use where," Mickos says.

MySQL isn't a serious financial threat to IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle--not yet, anyway. "Frankly, we don't see them in too many head-to-head deals," says Robert Shimp, Oracle's technology marketing VP. He describes MySQL and other open-source databases as a benefit because they introduce small companies to relational database technology.

The lack of an "ecosystem" of third-party application and software-tool vendors creates a hidden cost for open-source database users, according to Microsoft. "It's more hype than reality," says Tom Rizzo, Microsoft's SQL Server Group product manager, of MySQL as a competitor. "But that's not to dismiss it. They will probably be a competitor in the future."

AMR's Kirby says MySQL will likely put pricing pressure on all commercial databases. In February, Oracle dropped the price of its Oracle Database 10g Standard Edition One by $1,000 to $4,995 per processor. And last month, Microsoft said it's developing a free, scaled-down version of its database targeting students and hobbyist programmers. Rizzo acknowledges that the SQL Server 2005 Express Edition is also, in part, a counterpunch to open-source databases such as MySQL. Microsoft is taking other cues from the open-source community as well, such as providing more information about development plans to customers and making more pre-beta technology available for trial use, Rizzo says.

So MySQL is already changing the database market, for users and vendors, albeit in small ways. Judging by the momentum it has developed, it's clear MySQL's influence will become more pronounced. It's just a question of how quickly and how big.

Continue to the sidebars:
"Comeback: CA Goes Open Source With Ingres Database"
"PostgreSQL: The Other Open-Source Database"
and "Growing Third-Party Vendor Support For MySQL"