In what was perceived by many to be a clear shot across MySQL’s bow, in 2005 Oracle purchased Innobase, who created one of MySQL’s flagship storage engines, InnoDB. MySQL responded in kind by creating a new storage engine intending to fit the void, known as Falcon.
Now, CBR Online is reporting Oracle could potentially be moving into providing service support for MySQL. While this might seem like a rather radical departure from their core service of supporting the company’s namesake database, interestingly Oracle has already been bundling MySQL with its Unbreakable Linux product for several months now.
Will this ultimately affect MySQL’s bottom-line? It’s difficult to say without knowing more about Oracle’s pricing plans for the support. MySQL already offers a pretty compelling support service, tied into its MySQL Enterprise product offering. Of course, there’s nothing to stop Oracle from training up its sea of support staff, and severely undercutting MySQL’s pricing plans.
Presuming any of this to be true, it’s a rather fascinating situation in light of the fact that just a few years ago, the commercial software industry was deriding the viability of open source software in the enterprise due to the lack of support. Now they’re competing for it.
Jason
