Transcript MySQL - Computer and Information Science

The Software Cartel’s Bane:
MySQL and Open Source
Database:
 Generic data warehouses that are
customarily designed by users to save
information in an organized and useful way
 Data backbones for most industrial
embedded software and web pages
 Without robust database engines, ecommerce would not be possible
Examples:
SQL Server
MySQL AB:
 “Open Source”
 Swedish firm founded
by David Axmark,
Allan Larsson and
Michael "Monty"
Widenius
Thesis:
Open source software, particularly
MySQL, can and will dominate the
software market in the near future.
MySQL’s product is more
valuable than its competitors’:
 Free, or at the very least, extremely cheap
 "Companies find the quality of mainstream
open-source products like Linux [and
MySQL] to be at least equal to that of
commercial alternatives." (Kirkpatrick 92)
 MySQL sells a competitive product
significantly below market value.
Open source software, such as
MySQL, can produce profits:
 Individual sales are small; however, the
expenses involved are minimal.
– Free labor
– “Free” does all the selling MySQL needs
 Revenues doubled to $12.6 million in 2003:
second year in a row
 Operated at a profitable basis at the end of
last year
MySQL’s competitors will loss
their market share at this rate:
 Open source software undersells other
commercial software
 Strategy:
– Take every single potential customer away from
the competition
– Nickel and dime the masses that have
downloaded MySQL
 Microsoft, IBM and Oracle’s products are
overpriced
MySQL and other open
source software providers
will revolutionize and
dominate the IT industry.
MySQL will not necessarily bankrupt
Bill Gates any time soon, but the once
invincible database engine cartel has
a new and powerful threat. The
owners and customers of MySQL will
prosper under the practice open
source software.
Works Cited
 Darrow, Barbara. “Is MySQL Quietly Lowering the
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Odds?” Computer Reseller News. 26 May 2003.
Kirkpatrick, David. “How The Open-Source World Plans
To Smack Down Microsoft, And Oracle, And...”
Fortune. 23 Feb. 2004.
Langley, Nick. “Open source database advantages.”
Computer Weekly. 25 Nov. 2003.
“MySQL Doubles Revenues Again; MySQL 5.0 Alpha
Debuts.” Linux Gram. 19 Jan. 2004.
Organtini, Giovanni and Luciano M. Barone. “The
REDACLE Work-Flow Management System.” Linux
Journal. Feb. 2004.