MySQL faithful launch OurSQL Foundation to keep Oracle honest

A community claiming to represent the interests of MySQL users and developers has launched the OurSQL Foundation, with the aim of presenting a united front to Oracle, which owns the intellectual property behind the popular open source database. The new nonprofit says it will help the MySQL community access knowledge and provide feedback on future development in a transparent and consistent way. The community organization also claims it will support the growth and use of MySQL as an open source database and collaborate with all players in the market, including Oracle, to see it succeed with the next generation of developers and applications. In February, the group behind the launch invited Oracle to take part in plans to create an independent foundation to guide development of MySQL. The move was prompted by concerns about MySQL's declining popularity and market share relative to PostgreSQL Under Oracle's management, MySQL's development lacks transparency and largely takes place behind closed doors through private code drops, "with limited visibility into the roadmap or decision-making," the group said in an open letter. In March, Oracle - which acquired the open source RDBMS with the Sun Microsystems buyout in 2009 - put forward a new approach to engaging developers and promised features supporting vector search. Big Red published a blog post that aimed to assure the community that "MySQL is fundamental to our data strategy." Peter Zaitsev, co-founder of open source consultancy Percona, one of the organizations behind the OurSQL Foundation, said Oracle had been signaling it was more open to having a conversation about the future of the database. "We know that many members of this foundation are having discussions with Oracle, contributing code, and so on," he said. "Also, this is not an anti-Oracle effort. On the contrary, we have invited Oracle to participate as a member, and I think that [if it joins] it would be a signal that they do really care about the MySQL community." The Register has asked Oracle whether it plans to take part in the foundation. "This foundation will provide a platform to promote and support MySQL as a database, fostering collaboration across everyone looking to contribute to the broad MySQL ecosystem," said Vadim Tkachenko, also a Percona co-founder who is president of the foundation. "It will pool resources and provide guidance around where MySQL fits into the technology landscape today, something that has been missing over the past few years. By bringing the community together under the banner of an independent Foundation, we can demonstrate that MySQL has a valid and vibrant future ahead of it. The OurSQL Foundation will be a neutral organization that will support MySQL as a technology, helping the community as a whole to grow and succeed in parallel with Oracle's renewed focus on MySQL community development." Other companies represented on the board include PlanetScale, PingCAP, VillageSQL, and Alibaba. Jean-Francois Gagne, a MySQL expert and independent consultant, is also on the founding board. (R)