Devs begin to assess options for MySQL's future beyond Oracle

Developers in the MySQL community are working together to challenge Oracle to improve transparency and commitment in its handling of the popular open source database, while considering other options, including forking the code.

At a meeting in San Francisco earlier this month, a group of interested members of the MySQL community met to discuss recent concerns about the handling of the system upon which many had built companies and careers.

Recent job losses at Oracle's MySQL core development team — the database's founding developer Michael "Monty" Widenius said he was "heartbroken" on hearing the news — and a dramatically falling number of commits to the project have led some to believe it is reaching a critical crossroads.

Vadim Tkachenko previously worked for MySQL AB, the Swedish company that developed the database before it was bought by Sun Microsystems, which later merged with Oracle. Now CTO at open source consultancy Percona ...