On January 16, 2008, Sun Microsystems announced that it will purchase MySQL AB for a cool $1 billion. MySQL AB is known for the widely popular MySQL database. Sun Microsystems is the creator of the Java programming language and the Solaris Unix-based operating system, as well as Java support technologies such as NetBeans.

Given that Sun has a reputation as a major force behind the Open Source Software movement, and the success that Java has had worldwide, there is good reason to think that this purchase will benefit the Sun product line tremendously. Sun has needed a top notch database to bundle with NetBeans and Solaris. MySQL is a natural choice.

Hopefully Sun will straighten out some of the drawbacks of MySQL licensing and open up the use of MySQL to an even larger group of Open Source developers. The highly popular LAMP (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP) server stack has been a major force behind the popularity of MySQL. Java-based web servers like BEA WebLogic, IBM WebSphere, and Red Hat JBoss, have typically focused on heavyweight enterprise applications in contrast to simpler and smaller LAMP server applications. With Sun and MySQL working together, it is possible that a new breed of web server will appear. Servers that are able to support multiple programming languages that operate through the Java Virtual Machine and powerful Java library functions. Languages like Perl, PHP, and Ruby will be able to coincide together, using the same library functions and database connectors. Only time will tell.

References

http://blogs.mysql.com/kaj/2008/01/16/sun-acquires-mysql/