Oracle is going to buy Sun and control Java and MYSQL.1
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In an interesting post in ZDNET ,Mr Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu is claimed to state that:
“.. he doesn’t seem too worried that the proprietary software company will kill Sun’s open source Java, OpenSolaris and MySQL jewels, in spite of Oracle’s hold on the database market.”
I am not sure I completely share his optimism. I am not so much worried about Java, there is no competition there. But think of it -If you were Oracle’s CEO, You just got the chance to kill the number one competitor product- Wouldn’t you want to kill MySQL?
Even if you do not do it immediately, would you want to invest in two competitive technologies? It just doesn’t make any sense business-wise.
Additionally, I don’t buy the “so what? Open source products can be forked” story. I do not think Java and MySQL would have been so successful without a solid company backing them up. I really hope that Oracle will provide this solid support and investment in the future of Java and MySQL.
My hope it that Oracle cares about its public image in the open source community and that this will drive Oracle to keep MySQL and Java open and alive.
No Dolphins were hurt in the making of this post.