MySQL Creator Urges Oracle to Spin Off the Database

Oracle's Sun acquisition is raising even more concerns, this time about the future of MySQL, the open-source database system. As the EC investigation of the proposed acquisition lingers, MySQL is bleeding customers while its creator is asking Oracle to sell off the unit to a third party with no conflicting interest.

Michael 'Monty' Widenius, who created MySQL and founded the company with the same name, is asking Oracle to sell off the database system in order to speed up the approval process and to ensure the open-source technology's survival. Oracle made a bid to buy Sun Microsystems, which owns MySQL, earlier this year but the $7.4 billion deal is still hanging in the air awaiting the approval of the European Union's Competition Commission after getting the go-ahead from the US Department of Justice. However, the uncertainty surrounding Sun's hardware unit and to a certain degree MySQL is causing Sun to lose a lot of potential customers and revenue, as much as $100 million every month.

The EU's main concern is actually about MySQL as it is looking to see if the acquisition won't mean a reduction in options for the consumers as the database system is seen as a competitor to Oracle's expensive offerings especially on the low end. Oracle is claiming that it will continue to develop and invest in MySQL but many are not convinced.

Widenius believes that there is cause for concern regarding the deal and that Oracle should "be constructive and commit to sell MySQL to a suitable third party, enabling an instant solution instead of letting Sun suffer much longer." Sun acquired MySQL for $1 billion in January 2008 and he wishes the company “all the best, but MySQL needs a different home than Oracle, a home where there will be no conflicts of interest concerning how, or if, MySQL should be developed further."