Comments on: SUN vs./and ORCL: the failure of the dual licensing model? http://sacha.labourey.com/2009/10/25/sun-vs-and-orcl-the-failure-of-the-dual-licensing-model/ Onward! Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:19:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Si Chen http://sacha.labourey.com/2009/10/25/sun-vs-and-orcl-the-failure-of-the-dual-licensing-model/#comment-1472 Si Chen Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:55:50 +0000 http://sacha.labourey.com/?p=406#comment-1472 Yes, you are right. MySQL is probably just not a big deal to a company as big as ORCL either way. I wonder if the problem with "freeing MySQL" is just that SUNW (haha the old NASDAQ ticker, before JAVA) paid so much for it that if ORCL "freed" MySQL by selling it back out, they would have to take a big write-down? Yes, you are right. MySQL is probably just not a big deal to a company as big as ORCL either way. I wonder if the problem with “freeing MySQL” is just that SUNW (haha the old NASDAQ ticker, before JAVA) paid so much for it that if ORCL “freed” MySQL by selling it back out, they would have to take a big write-down?

]]> By: Andrew C. Oliver http://sacha.labourey.com/2009/10/25/sun-vs-and-orcl-the-failure-of-the-dual-licensing-model/#comment-1463 Andrew C. Oliver Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:51:50 +0000 http://sacha.labourey.com/?p=406#comment-1463 In the end I think there are even more problems with the "disruptive 'pro' upgrade" model. Often times the cost of redeployment from say "OurStuff DontUseThisProductOrItWillEatYourBrane Edition" to "OurStuff AwesomeThanksForPurchasing Edition" will dwarf all money paid over the life of the business relationship. The "right" way to do those is by keeping the "pro" version point-for-point compatible (i.e. springs Enterprise jars are drop in replacements that require no real effort) and this should be value-add not "or we won't do any other kind of business with you"... I agree on the value add problems of the dual-license model. Just I think those aren't well understood yet and haven't been business problems for the vendors yet. I think this may change that. In the end I think there are even more problems with the “disruptive ‘pro’ upgrade” model. Often times the cost of redeployment from say “OurStuff DontUseThisProductOrItWillEatYourBrane Edition” to “OurStuff AwesomeThanksForPurchasing Edition” will dwarf all money paid over the life of the business relationship. The “right” way to do those is by keeping the “pro” version point-for-point compatible (i.e. springs Enterprise jars are drop in replacements that require no real effort) and this should be value-add not “or we won’t do any other kind of business with you”… I agree on the value add problems of the dual-license model. Just I think those aren’t well understood yet and haven’t been business problems for the vendors yet. I think this may change that.

]]> By: Sacha http://sacha.labourey.com/2009/10/25/sun-vs-and-orcl-the-failure-of-the-dual-licensing-model/#comment-1461 Sacha Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:57:48 +0000 http://sacha.labourey.com/?p=406#comment-1461 I agree, they will most probably not do that. But I don't think the reason lies in the lost revenues since MySQL revenues are probably equal to 3 working days of ORCL revenues... No, I don't think they are going to do it because they have other things to do, like... running a business. As for the other DBs, yes plenty of alternatives exist but MySQL is really the crown symbol of FOSS DB, other DBs have never been able to catch up on that front - whatever their technical merits are. I agree, they will most probably not do that. But I don’t think the reason lies in the lost revenues since MySQL revenues are probably equal to 3 working days of ORCL revenues… No, I don’t think they are going to do it because they have other things to do, like… running a business. As for the other DBs, yes plenty of alternatives exist but MySQL is really the crown symbol of FOSS DB, other DBs have never been able to catch up on that front – whatever their technical merits are.

]]> By: Si chen http://sacha.labourey.com/2009/10/25/sun-vs-and-orcl-the-failure-of-the-dual-licensing-model/#comment-1459 Si chen Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:19:44 +0000 http://sacha.labourey.com/?p=406#comment-1459 Sacha, This sounds like the kind of clever schemes that James Bond villains come up with, but I'm afraid it might not work much better than a Dr. Evil plan either: They'd be killing off the OEM business they bought from MySQL, without being really able to kill off open source databases in general. There's still postgresql, derby, etc., and another open source database can always spring up, right? So why would they want to do this? Sacha,

This sounds like the kind of clever schemes that James Bond villains come up with, but I’m afraid it might not work much better than a Dr. Evil plan either: They’d be killing off the OEM business they bought from MySQL, without being really able to kill off open source databases in general. There’s still postgresql, derby, etc., and another open source database can always spring up, right? So why would they want to do this?

]]> By: Sacha http://sacha.labourey.com/2009/10/25/sun-vs-and-orcl-the-failure-of-the-dual-licensing-model/#comment-1457 Sacha Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:34:33 +0000 http://sacha.labourey.com/?p=406#comment-1457 agreed. JDBC drivers used to be licensed under the LGPL btw and MySQL changed that at some point. agreed. JDBC drivers used to be licensed under the LGPL btw and MySQL changed that at some point.

]]> By: Brian Aker http://sacha.labourey.com/2009/10/25/sun-vs-and-orcl-the-failure-of-the-dual-licensing-model/#comment-1456 Brian Aker Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:11:50 +0000 http://sacha.labourey.com/?p=406#comment-1456 Hi! I'm no fan of dual licensing, but what I don't get is why a number of the OEM vendors complain about paying the licensing fees for the drivers. You have a choice, either pay for the drivers, or write your own. If you write your own then the problem goes away. PHP has distributed non-GPL MySQL drivers over the years. Redhat has done this off and on,... If you don't want to pay for access to the drivers then you just need to write your own. Cheers, -Brian BTW this assumes you aren't using libmysqld or shipping the server with your product. Almost no one ever has ever used libmysqld (if you are, you should probably be using SQLite), and the Internet really removes the need for you to ship the database with your product. Hi!

I’m no fan of dual licensing, but what I don’t get is why a number of the OEM vendors complain about paying the licensing fees for the drivers. You have a choice, either pay for the drivers, or write your own. If you write your own then the problem goes away.

PHP has distributed non-GPL MySQL drivers over the years. Redhat has done this off and on,… If you don’t want to pay for access to the drivers then you just need to write your own.

Cheers,
-Brian

BTW this assumes you aren’t using libmysqld or shipping the server with your product. Almost no one ever has ever used libmysqld (if you are, you should probably be using SQLite), and the Internet really removes the need for you to ship the database with your product.

]]> By: Sacha http://sacha.labourey.com/2009/10/25/sun-vs-and-orcl-the-failure-of-the-dual-licensing-model/#comment-1454 Sacha Mon, 18 Jan 2010 06:19:49 +0000 http://sacha.labourey.com/?p=406#comment-1454 agreed agreed

]]> By: Seun Osewa http://sacha.labourey.com/2009/10/25/sun-vs-and-orcl-the-failure-of-the-dual-licensing-model/#comment-1453 Seun Osewa Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:41:46 +0000 http://sacha.labourey.com/?p=406#comment-1453 If not for the dual license, the founders would not have had anything to sell, MySQL's marketing budget would be zero, and we would all be using PostgreSQL. You can't eat your cash and still own the code! If not for the dual license, the founders would not have had anything to sell, MySQL’s marketing budget would be zero, and we would all be using PostgreSQL. You can’t eat your cash and still own the code!

]]> By: 451 CAOS Theory » Everything you always wanted to know about MySQL but were afraid to ask http://sacha.labourey.com/2009/10/25/sun-vs-and-orcl-the-failure-of-the-dual-licensing-model/#comment-1403 451 CAOS Theory » Everything you always wanted to know about MySQL but were afraid to ask Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:33:03 +0000 http://sacha.labourey.com/?p=406#comment-1403 [...] 25: Sacha Labourey - SUN vs./and ORCL: the failure of the dual licensing model? “Some of the ex-MySQL co-founders who now ask for ORCL to let MySQL go are responsible for [...] [...] 25: Sacha Labourey – SUN vs./and ORCL: the failure of the dual licensing model? “Some of the ex-MySQL co-founders who now ask for ORCL to let MySQL go are responsible for [...]

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