MySQL founder fights on against Oracle’s Sun takeover

For some in the software community, the battle over Oracle and Sun Microsystems is still raging. Predictably, the biggest opposition to the acquisition, which took place in January, comes from the open source community.

This time, it is Michael Widenius, co-founder of MySQL, who is raging against Oracle. Widenius has filed an appeal against the decision made by the European Commission to approve Oracle’s takeover of Sun, again raising the issue of competition in the market.

Last year, the European Commission investigated claims that the Oracle-Sun deal would harm competition in the market, as it cast the future of MySQL into question. Widenius, amongst others, claimed that Oracle had an incentive to suppress or restructure MySQL. In January, Oracle finally sealed the deal, only after releasing a list of commitments to keeping MySQL as a competitive force, including increased spending on MySQL research and development.

Widenius, however, is not satisfied. He spent the final few weeks before the deal campaigning against Oracle, trying to gather signatories for a petition against the takeover. He thinks that these commitments are merely designed to placate, and, as they are not legally binding, will not protect MySQL in the long run.

On his blog, Widenius wrote in the last few days before the deal that it is the consumer who he is concerned about. He said: “If Oracle were allowed to acquire MySQL [owned by Sun], we would be looking at less competition among databases, which will mean higher license and support prices.

“In the end it's always the consumers and the small businesses that have to pay the bills, in this case to Oracle.”

It is not yet known what the exact terms of the appeal are yet, and Widenius and Oracle spokespeople have all refused to give further comment at the moment. A European Commission official told the Financial Times last week that it would defend its earlier decision in court.