

EU Clears Oracle to Buy Sun Microsystems  - thafman
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703699204575016561637563060.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

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cabalamat
> _In December, Oracle tried to address those concerns, by saying it would
> "continue to enhance" MySQL, publish programming details of MySQL to help
> others create applications, and would not to pursue copyright claims against
> other companies that incorporate the software. Those pledges are nonbinding_

If the EU had decided to hold Oracle to its pledges regarding MySQL, Oracle
wouldn't have any right to complain.

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invisible
The perplexing question (in my opinion) is why didn't they hold them to those
pledges? Really makes you wonder - I suppose they think MySQL's smaller market
share wouldn't hurt the market if it disappeared. This is really so far from
the truth.

~~~
wendroid
How does one make that a legally binding requirement in perpetuity ?

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wendroid
> I, Michael "Monty" Widenius, the creator of MySQL, am asking you urgently to
> help save MySQL from Oracle's clutches.

UL, So I'll guess you'll be crying into your €16.6m

~~~
pclark
would you prefer he just go retire and not give a crap about MySQL?

~~~
wheels
I do think it in bad taste for him to complain about what's being done with
something he _sold_ for a very large amount, especially since he quickly
ejected from the acquiring company. It's kind of like selling your house and
then going to the neighborhood council to complain about what the new owners
are doing with it.

~~~
stse
It's more like building a neighborhood from scratch, taking care of it for
fifteen years, and then seeing the ones you handed it over to being bought by
the ones who owns the rest of the city.

I don't get where people get this strange attitude from. Like you're more of a
"sellout" when you build a company over time, with an open source product and
don't want to be controlled by your competitor. Than if you, like most
startups today, build a proprietary product with the intention of selling to
you biggest competitor as soon as possible.

~~~
wheels
MySQL AB was a venture backed startup that raised $40m in funding, not some
random open source hippies that got tricked into giving away the crown jewels.
The company was built to sell or IPO.

And see, I don't expect Montey to _like_ this, but I do wish he'd shut up
about it. He's not the right person to be leading this call. My take on this
doesn't have anything to do with it being OSS or not; it'd seem like sour
grapes if any founder who sold his company and left was trying to incite
governments towards legal action against his acquiring company at a time when
they're otherwise pretty much hosed.

