*Future of MySQL investigated by the European Commission
<http://feedblitz.com/r.asp?l=43046361&f=1246&u=11298&c=0>*
The acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle is investigated by the
European Commission for its potential anti-competition effects,
including the future role of MySQL as an open source database software
owned by Oracle.
The debate between opponents and supporters of the merger has been
tenser in the past weeks, after Oracle called on its biggest customers
to support its position in the hearings at the European Commission,
while the creator of the MySQL Monty Widenius made a public appeal to
the open source community to reject the terms of this acquisition,
unless Oracle commits to a series of issues that will make sure MySQL
will not die: "So I just don't buy it that Oracle will be a good home
for MySQL. A weak MySQL is worth about one billion dollars per year to
Oracle, maybe more. A strong MySQL could never generate enough income
for Oracle that they would want to cannibalize their real cash cow. I
don't think any company has ever done anything like that."
Oracle attacked on 14 December 2009 by making public a series of 10
public commitments in order to asssure the public and the European
Commission of its firm decision to continue its investment in research
for MySQL and "to enhance MySQL in the future under the GPL."
The move appears to soften the position of the European regulators that
will decide at the end of January 2010 on this merger, after the US
Department of Justice has already confirmed the deal. The Commission
states that the "announcement by Oracle of a series of undertakings to
customers, developers and users of MySQL is an important new element to
be taken into account in the ongoing proceedings."
The critics haven't been convinced of the new commitments, with Florian
Mueller, an open critic of the deal, classifying them as "purely
cosmetic". He also pointed out that the 5-year limit for the Oracle's
public commitments is not enough.
Other members of the civil society have already backed the criticism to
this deal with a public letter of the Knowledge Ecology International,
Richard Stallman and EDRi-member Open Rights Group asking the Commission
to block the acquisition.
The letter addressed to the EC officials explains that "Oracle seeks to
acquire MySQL to prevent further erosion of its share of the market for
database software licenses and services, and to protect the high prices
now charged for its proprietary database software licenses and services.
If Oracle is allowed to acquire MySQL, it will predictably limit the
development of the functionality and performance of the MySQL software
platform, leading to profound harm to those who use MySQL software to
power applications."
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number7.24/european-
<http://www.feedblitz.com/t2.asp?/1246/11298/0/http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number7.24/european-commission-oracle-mysql>
-----
Saygilar
Mustafa Akgul
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