Sun Microsystems, the third largest maker of servers in the world, agreed to purchase MySQL for a sum of $1 billion. The puts Sun into the database market, pitting it up against Oracle.

MySQL is the most popular open source database technology out there, and MySQL serves as the database backend for PCMech and all of my other dynamic websites. It is very popular online because it is powerful, flexible, fast and free.

Putting up $1 billion for the technology is substantial. That represents 36% of Sun’s cash on hand. Speculation abounds on why Sun would want in on this. Some have said it is Sun’s effort to get into "cloud computing", while others think it is just Sun’s attempt to be more relevant to most of the web-based world.

Who the hell knows. All I know if that this is big news in the open source world.

If you want the corporate speak on why they did it:

"Today’s acquisition reaffirms Sun’s position at the center of the global Web economy. Supporting our overall growth plan, acquiring MySQL amplifies our investments in the technologies demanded by those driving extreme growth and efficiency, from Internet media titans to the world’s largest traditional enterprises," said Jonathan Schwartz, CEO and president, Sun Microsystems. "MySQL’s employees and culture, along with its near ubiquity across the Web, make it an ideal fit with Sun’s open approach to network innovation. And most importantly, this announcement boosts our investments into the communities at the heart of innovation on the Internet and of enterprises that rely on technology as a competitive weapon."

So there.

Source: Mysql.com

Like what you read?

If so, please join over 28,000 people who receive our exclusive weekly newsletter and computer tips, and get FREE COPIES of 5 eBooks we created, as our gift to you for subscribing. Just enter your name and email below: