Sun/MySQL can only include patches and contributions if they fully own the copyright to those changes.
This gives forks like Drizzle, OurDelta, Percona and MariaDB a major advantage over the Sun version: they can include the best patches from all over. And it is clear that the momentum is building.
In a follow-up blog, Stephen asks: "what would the implications be if MySQL, of all projects, were forced to abandon the dual-licensing model it had long championed?"
Thinking about this, there is something that really bothers me:
Let's assume MySQL took on patches without ownership of the copyright, and thereby lost the ability to provide a commercial license to OEM customers.
According to the GPL this would mean that nobody could ever ship a commercial product with MySQL built-in!
To avoid this possibility from being lost to the world forever, surely MySQL would have to abandon the GPL, and maybe change to LGPL or BSD!
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