MySQL and open source

[Björnke von Gierke]

Ruslan

You have some weird ideas about how open source works. For example:

> Look on sites of all open source GPL projects. You can see on download page - binaries and sources. Nobody should even ask you.  You should self upload sources the same time as binary. But not on request.

The GPL mandates that anyone can get the code. How and when it is delivered is completely up to the creator of the code. Most open source projects work by collaborative coding, or need the user to compile the binaries by themselves. those benefit from the code being available all the time. Other companies put the code up, because then they do not need to manually mail out stuff and the GPL is satisfied automatically. The GPL does not mandate how and when you give the source code to other people, only that you must do it.

See also:
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLRequireSourcePostedPublic
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#DoesTheGPLRequireAvailabilityToPublic

Heck, you could even demand money for distributing the source code:
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#DoesTheGPLAllowDownloadFee

> Then lets all together, will make binaries of mySQL and start sale it at price 1000$ ?   -50%  comparing to Oracle. You will cut all sales of Oracle then :-)   You think you really can do this??   :-)

Yes you can. But no one will buy it, because most users of mySQL are using it for free. Also, you'd offer the source code, and cost sensitive people will compile it by themselves. Of course, anyone who does not like the weird mySQL licensing demands, can use postgreSQL, which has a far simpler approach to licensing.

 I suspect that MySQL has this weird and confusing licensing scheme to fear people into buying the product. They even say so on their site: "To anyone in doubt, we recommend the commercial license. It is never wrong."

> I have found that page.
>     http://www.mysql.com/about/legal/licensing//commercial-license.html
> 
> quotes:
> 
>> Typical examples of MySQL distribution include:
>> 
>> Selling software that requires customers to install MySQL themselves on their
>> own machines.


So we'd all need to pay Oracle for using RunRev (which does not work with MySQL databases unless one installs a version of MySQL somewhere)?


-- 

official ChatRev page:
http://bjoernke.com?target=chatrev

Chat with other RunRev developers:
go stack URL "http://bjoernke.com/chatrev/chatrev1.3b3.rev"