MySQL: Monty Widenius doesn’t give up in confrontation with Oracle

The founder of MySQL has called for an appeal on the European antitrust authority’s decision to green light Sun Microsystems acquisition by Oracle, and therefore the control of the MySQL open source data base.

The saga surrounding Oracle’s purchase of Sun Microsystems and control over the subsequent open source MySQL database ended with Oracle getting a green light from European regulators, after providing guarantees that the database’s status will be maintained (at least for the next five years).

But this has prevented Monty Widenius, MySQL founder from being convinced that Oracle getting their hands on MySQL isn’t a good thing. He has already initiated petitions to try and influence the regulators decision by pushing developer’s opposition to this evolution.


Appealing for greater position clarity
He has called for an appeal to be raised against the European regulators who gave their approval for Oracle’s purchase of Sun Microsystems. Oracle has nevertheless tried to calm things down by confirming their intention to maintain the spirit of MySQL by confirming a series of engagements that they will honour which were set by European regulators.

This position hasn’t convinced Monty Widenius. The MySQL founder believes that even though Oracle promised to keep their word, while refusing to write the stipulations into the contracts, nothing requires that they respect this engagement. He believes that this is simply a smoke screen which has been put up to obtain the green light from Europe.

According to the Financial Times, the appeal would be based on the raised issues, meeting the demands of the numerous people who have signed the petition to demand stronger guarantees over MySQL’s future. We are now waiting to see what Oracle’s reaction will be.