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February - 2008 - issue > Tech Tracker
Sun Microsystems acquires MySQL
Christo Jacob
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Sun Microsystems has plunked down $1 billion to buy MySQL, an open source icon and developer of one of the world’s fastest growing open source databases. MySQL’s database, widely used in some of the high-volume sites on the Web including Google and Facebook, will augment Sun’s position in the enterprise IT market including the $15 billion database market. The deal will greatly help in extending MySQL’s commercial appeal.

Gartner, in its analysis, says the deal immediately casts Sun Microsystems in the role of a major open source database management system vendor. MySQL’s largest user base resides on Linux, with another major group of users residing on Windows.

This will enable Sun Microsystems to attract more Linux and Windows users. There will be a shift in its focus from primarily supporting Solaris-based (SAMP) systems to Linux-based (LAMP) systems.

Forrester Research analyst Mike Gilpin finds that the acquisition was not so much about going head to head in the database market with Oracle or IBM, but about strengthening its position in helping to run the Internet. The deal has also put an end to a speculation that MySQL might become a public company.

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