Today's MySQL is a highly functional, scalable and credible alternative. A general-purpose database.

A lot of people, including so-called experts, have not yet realized that MySQL has become very powerful in all respects. Oracle obviously refuses to admit it but is apparently more interested in MySQL than in the rest of Sun.

The MySQL of about ten years ago was a low-end database that worked very well for web and other read-only/read-mostly purposes. It filled a niche in the emerging web development space, in tandem with Linux. It's easy to understand why everyone considered it very limited and why some refused to recognize it as a real database.

But things have changed. Technologically and in terms of reputation. Over the years, MySQL became ever more functional and scalable. Especially in recent years, it has become increasingly popular for use by large enterprises and governmental organizations as a cost-saving alternative.

Of course, Oracle offers a number of features that MySQL doesn't have today, including a number that it may not have anytime during the next several years. But none of us really needs all features of a word processor or spreadsheet. With databases it's just like that. Programmers increasingly find that MySQL offers a large part of what they really need, including typical "enterprise" functionality. In such cases, Oracle is a total overkill. In other cases, a development team can integrate some of the missing functionality into the application layer of an IT solution. That code can be programmed internally or be acquired in the form of modules from third-party vendors.

If the cost savings are as substantial as they are between Oracle and MySQL, many people will decide to do without the overpriced database and go with the affordable one that serves its purpose. The result will be much less expensive and still it may be just the same or more or less the same from the perspective of the users of the resulting IT solution.

It took time for MySQL to become not only technically good enough for many such purposes but also to be seen as credible by decision-makers. It has worked its way up from private use and small-scale departmental use to being used in some large reference projects by major organizations such as Google, Facebook, the United Nations FAO, the Swedish police, banks, airlines...