Oh man... Larry Ellison just bought Sun.
Zoinks!
Well, if it's one thing Oracle knows how to do - that's monetize their software assets. He gets to kill off MySQL and "own" Java all in one fell swoop - for about the price that's a steal - $5.9 billion.
What will happen to MySQL and Java and Solaris and JavaFX and all the other Intellectual Property of Sun? Only Larry knows for sure... but I bet there are some people in Aramonk, New York that are absolutely kicking themselves that they didn't take a man pill and try harder to secure the Sun acquisition.
Now IBM is in the delicate position of having their #1 rival own the language (Java) that it has based it's whole company and infrastructure on... NICE!
Will this mean an end to MySQL?
Will Oracle start demanding some kind of licensing for Java?
Will they splinter the Java core into their own "brand" of Java?
Now that Oracle's in the hardware business - what does that mean for customers? For HP? For IBM?
It's sure going to be Mr. Toad's wild ride as Oracle assimilates the company... wow! My hat's off to Mr. Ellison - you've really pulled off a shocker!
Showing posts with label MySQL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MySQL. Show all posts
Monday, April 20, 2009
Friday, April 03, 2009
Microblog: So Long Solaris!
Well, it's not a totally "done deal", but IBM is still looking to acquire Sun. If they do - it'll be interesting to see what happens to Sun's operating system: Solaris.
My guess = c ya! IBM already controls 37% of the high-end Unix market. Guess who is #2? Yep, Sun - with 28%.
Hmmmm.... nice. Buy 'em, kill Solaris... and nearly double your Unix marketshare overnight. Sweet!
Sun's shares were in the $5 range - making its market cap about $3.6 billion (don't get me started on why the hell they bought MySQL for $1 billion!) - and IBM is offering a 100% premium of $10 per share.
So - for only about $6.5 billion IBM can basically kill the #2 competitor. Oh yeah, they could also sell off Sun's hardware stuff - and probably recoup around $1 billion or so.
AND, if you act right NOW- you'll also get Java for no additional cost - we'll even pay shipping and handling! IBM is ALL about Java. Hopefully, if the buyout is successful, they'll FINALLY put some resources into updating the thing (it's LONG overdue!).
My guess = c ya! IBM already controls 37% of the high-end Unix market. Guess who is #2? Yep, Sun - with 28%.
Hmmmm.... nice. Buy 'em, kill Solaris... and nearly double your Unix marketshare overnight. Sweet!
Sun's shares were in the $5 range - making its market cap about $3.6 billion (don't get me started on why the hell they bought MySQL for $1 billion!) - and IBM is offering a 100% premium of $10 per share.
So - for only about $6.5 billion IBM can basically kill the #2 competitor. Oh yeah, they could also sell off Sun's hardware stuff - and probably recoup around $1 billion or so.
AND, if you act right NOW- you'll also get Java for no additional cost - we'll even pay shipping and handling! IBM is ALL about Java. Hopefully, if the buyout is successful, they'll FINALLY put some resources into updating the thing (it's LONG overdue!).
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Sun Backs Off MySQL Crippleware
In an official statement on his blog Kaj Arno, "VP of Community" for MySQL, as said that Sun has done an about face on making parts of it's upcoming 6.0 MySQL release closed source.
To quote Kaj, "MySQL 6.0’s pending backup functionality will be open source..."
He blamed the experimentation of the business model on "a company considering an IPO" but that it "made less sense in the context of Sun, a large company whit a whole family of complementary open source software and hardware products."
Ummm... yeah, sure.
I'm sure it had nothing whatsoever to do with the huge Community Edition (free version) users screaming "not fair" until their throats were dry.
It seems that the Community Edition folks have more time than money - so what did you think they would do? They have nothing better to do all day then bitch and moan about MAYBE not getting something for free (remote backup) and that it's NO FAIR that those "rich" people actually paying a small licensing fee and keeping the company in business should get something they MIGHT not get.
People, people.
OK - so they've backed off of this issue on this release. But, you gotta know that at sometime, in the future, they are going to make some add-ons closed source - for paying customers only.
The good news is that most of the APIs are open - so those of you with more time than money can go ahead and spend time writing your own functionality that is equal to (or better than) the closed source one.
Then feel free to give it away - free.
To quote Kaj, "MySQL 6.0’s pending backup functionality will be open source..."
He blamed the experimentation of the business model on "a company considering an IPO" but that it "made less sense in the context of Sun, a large company whit a whole family of complementary open source software and hardware products."
Ummm... yeah, sure.
I'm sure it had nothing whatsoever to do with the huge Community Edition (free version) users screaming "not fair" until their throats were dry.
It seems that the Community Edition folks have more time than money - so what did you think they would do? They have nothing better to do all day then bitch and moan about MAYBE not getting something for free (remote backup) and that it's NO FAIR that those "rich" people actually paying a small licensing fee and keeping the company in business should get something they MIGHT not get.
People, people.
OK - so they've backed off of this issue on this release. But, you gotta know that at sometime, in the future, they are going to make some add-ons closed source - for paying customers only.
The good news is that most of the APIs are open - so those of you with more time than money can go ahead and spend time writing your own functionality that is equal to (or better than) the closed source one.
Then feel free to give it away - free.
Friday, April 18, 2008
MySQL: No soup for (some of) you!
When Sun bought MySQL for $1 billion - the open source database maker was struggling to make money. In a ComputerWorld interview in June 2007, former MySQL CEO Mårten Mickos said that "...only one in a thousand users ever pays.." for the software.
1 in 1,000? And you got $1 BILLION for your company? Yes, please!
Anyway - back to the story. Now that Sun owns it - I can picture them in a product marketing meeting thinking "hmmmm.... how can we make some money out of this widely-installed database?"
Then, the new guy, I'll call him "Tom", comes up with a brilliant idea, "Let's make the cool new features in our 5.1 release only available to those who have a paid license! The rest of the people using it for free - can either just wait for it - or can write their own version."
Applause all around. Problem solved. Until - their user conference this week in Santa Clara, California.
The "Community Edition" (free) users were all up in arms about Sun having "the nerve" to actually charge some money for a database (oh, the horror!).
Then the bloggers got a hold of it. In one post user Paul Saduauskas threatened to abandon MySQL in favor of Postgresql that he categorized as "fast enough." He was incensed that the free version and pay-for version would have a different feature set - and he wasn't alone.
Now, I can understand that if you're used to something being free (even though it's really not free, and most people who are using it SHOULD pay for it) - it can suck when you realize that you aren't getting the latest and greatest in the next release - just because you didn't pay for it in the first place.
Although, now due to the community and bloggers coming undone over the last 24 hours, Sun is now in full waffle mode on what they will finally do in the end.
However - I think Community users should just stop bitching about it and either dump MySQL for another free, open source database or pony up the inexpensive license money and shut the hell up.
People - how do you think Sun got the $1 billion to buy MySQL in the first place? Yep, it had to actually "sell" something to someone...
1 in 1,000? And you got $1 BILLION for your company? Yes, please!
Anyway - back to the story. Now that Sun owns it - I can picture them in a product marketing meeting thinking "hmmmm.... how can we make some money out of this widely-installed database?"
Then, the new guy, I'll call him "Tom", comes up with a brilliant idea, "Let's make the cool new features in our 5.1 release only available to those who have a paid license! The rest of the people using it for free - can either just wait for it - or can write their own version."
Applause all around. Problem solved. Until - their user conference this week in Santa Clara, California.
The "Community Edition" (free) users were all up in arms about Sun having "the nerve" to actually charge some money for a database (oh, the horror!).
Then the bloggers got a hold of it. In one post user Paul Saduauskas threatened to abandon MySQL in favor of Postgresql that he categorized as "fast enough." He was incensed that the free version and pay-for version would have a different feature set - and he wasn't alone.
Now, I can understand that if you're used to something being free (even though it's really not free, and most people who are using it SHOULD pay for it) - it can suck when you realize that you aren't getting the latest and greatest in the next release - just because you didn't pay for it in the first place.
Although, now due to the community and bloggers coming undone over the last 24 hours, Sun is now in full waffle mode on what they will finally do in the end.
However - I think Community users should just stop bitching about it and either dump MySQL for another free, open source database or pony up the inexpensive license money and shut the hell up.
People - how do you think Sun got the $1 billion to buy MySQL in the first place? Yep, it had to actually "sell" something to someone...
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