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Stallman Urges EC to Stop Oracle Acquisition of Sun
By: Chris Preimesberger
2009-10-20
Article Rating:    / 11
There are 11 user comments on this Database story.
UPDATED: Digital civil liberties organization Open Rights Group, Knowledge Ecology International and software developer Richard Stallman tell the EC in a letter that they are concerned about Oracle's possible squashing of competition in the database market by abandoning MySQL.Two software industry groups, along with free and open-source software
community leader Richard Stallman, said Oct. 19 they are opposed to Oracle's
planned acquisition of Sun Microsystems and urged European Commission
regulators to block the $7.4 billion deal.
If the transaction, which
was announced April 20 and approved
Aug. 20 by the U.S. Department of Justice as not being against federal
antitrust laws, is sanctioned by the EC, Oraclethrough ownership of Sunwill
have control of both the trademark and the key maintainers of the popular MySQL database, who work at
Sun.
The Open Rights Group, a digital civil liberties organization, Knowledge
Ecology International and Stallman told the EC's Competition Commissioner
Neelie Kroes in a co-written letter dated Oct. 19 that they are concerned about
Oracle's possible squashing of competition in the database market.
"If Oracle is allowed to acquire MySQL, it will predictably limit the
development of the functionality and performance of the MySQL software
platform, leading to profound harm to those who use MySQL software to power
applications," they wrote.
Stallman, ORG and KEI also said Oracle was
likely to protect its core product, the Oracle proprietary database, from
losing market share and shrinking licensing fees at the expense of MySQL.
The EC monitors commercial competition in the 27 countries that comprise the
European Union. The Brussels-based panel is currently doing due diligence on
Oracle's proposed takeover of Sun and has said it expects to have a decision by no later than Jan. 19, 2010 on whether to approve the deal.
Meanwhile, Oracle founder and CEO Larry
Ellison has said Sun
is losing about $100 million per month as the two companies wait for the EC
to make its decision.
Stallman and the other open-source community activists contend that Oracle's
ownership will hinder development of the popular open-source database, which
relies heavily on volunteer contributions of time and talent.
MySQL is popular in the data centers of Web 2.0 companies such as Google, Yahoo
and Amazon.com and has a loyal following in the midrange and small and midsize business
markets.
Oracle makes a number of proprietary transactional databases, and the groups'
contention is that Oracle will allow MySQL to fade away under its management.
Ellison calls Microsoft the main competitor for MySQL
However, Ellison said at the recent Oracle OpenWorld conference in San
Francisco, "MySQL in no way competes with our databases. It has its own
market and following. The main competitor is Microsoft, and that's okay by
us."
There is a difference of opinion on this, even among MySQL founders. On Oct.
19, MySQL creator Michael Widenius urged Oracle to commit to selling MySQL in
order to resolve antitrust concerns.
Back on Oct. 8, former MySQL CEO Mrten
Mickos sent a letter
to Kroes, urging that the deal be approved for the good of the market and
MySQL.
Kroes told Reuters in September that she was concerned that the acquisition
could hinder competition in the database market and wanted to make sure
alternatives would continue to be available to users.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the date, Jan. 19, 2010, by which the EC says it will make a decision on the Oracle-Sun acquisition.
| | Reader Comments: Stallman Urges EC to Stop Oracle Acquisition of Sun | | >>> Post your comment now!
| | Not entirely true about LarryLarry definitely wants to die as the man with the most toys and money. But he actually does do a fair amount of philanthropy -- mainly involving... Posted At: 10-30-09 By: FastEddie | | | | | | Yes, totally consistentStallman didn't support a non-free licensing scheme (MySQL is GPL'd). He's talking about development resources. He believes, as many do, that an... Posted At: 10-30-09 By: Sum Yung Gai | | | | | | "Consistent"?Stallman just endorsed a "non-free" licensing scheme. How "consistent" is that? Posted At: 10-24-09 By: Lefty | | | | | | unclesmrgol is correctunclesmrgol is correct. MySQL is open source, so anyone can pick it up and make their own version, just like Oracle did with RedHat and made... Posted At: 10-22-09 By: Anonymous | | | | | | Those Sun jobs are lost no matter whatEllison plans to cut many of Sun's employees if the deal is completed anyway. In case you hadn't heard, development of MySQL v.6 has been stopped.... Posted At: 10-22-09 By: Anonymous | | | | | | Walmart of softwareCompanies like Oracle are trying to become super markets for software. US anti-trust enforcement is weak and toothless, possibly corrupt and can be... Posted At: 10-22-09 By: software-methuselah | | | | | | How many more?3000 Sun employees were laid off yesterday. How many more head for the unemployment line while Stallman struts his ego? Posted At: 10-22-09 By: jackflove | | | | | | >>> Post your comment now! | | | | | |
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