SUN Acquires MySQL

Kaj -- Part of what makes me very happy about our Sun deal is the interest Sun has expressed in learning from us. That has been evident in all the various meetings here in Orlando — be it with the founders, with the individual departments, or in front of the entire audience.

So as a way to teach Sun a first lesson, I had prepared a gig for the end of the presentations during the morning. We have a tradition of singing songs in our company, stemming from our Scandinavian heritage. “We take this very seriously”, I had heard Rich Green comment. And I’m happy he meant it in a very respectful manner: Corporate culture is important. Drinking songs themselves are meant to be purely fun, and not taken seriously, although they are surrounded by plenty of fairly rigid tradition.

An important question for MySQLers and MySQL users alike is: “What do the MySQL Founders think of the acquisition of MySQL by Sun?”

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to explore that question further, in my first personal encounter with Sun. Already before that encounter, I had asked Monty a couple of questions.

Kaj: Monty, in the 1990s, you developed MySQL on Solaris. Why was that?

Monty: In the early years when I worked with Sun products, I was always
impressed with the stability and reliability of both hardware and
operating system. That was the reason why we used Sun Microsystems technology to develop MySQL.

Kaj: You did that development ages ago. What do you think about the Sun Microsystems of 2008?

Monty: In recent times, I have been very happy with Sun’s contributions to the Open Source world, for example Open Solaris, Java and Open Office. Also, I am impressed by their understanding of Open Source, as witnessed by the Open Office contributor license.

Kaj: I know you haven’t had too much personal interaction with Sun so far, relating to the acquisition agreement. What do you expect to happen between the two companies?

Monty: I know that MySQL AB has a lot to learn from Sun when it comes to Open Source, and hope Sun desires and will be able to learn from us. Through this agreement, we can contribute our knowledge to each other, so that we together can create something even bigger.

Based on the interaction between Monty, David and the senior Sun representatives we met, I think it’s safe to say that there was a lot of excitement both sides. Founder expectations are high regarding what Sun can mean for MySQL. And I’m happy to note that the feeling is mutual — it was my firm impression that the Sun guys we met have high expectations regarding what the MySQL founders can continue to contribute to the future of Sun.

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