The Database: Sun and the Billion Dollar Bet

There is a bet made this week, and the bet is the database: the billion dollars that Sun Microsystems promised for MySQL AB on Wednesday. The bet is the biggest open source acquisition of its time, and the acquisition is the validation: the hobby that became the enterprise. The questions began that day: would the database stay open, would the community stay welcome. The billion dollar bet is the January 2008 story, and the story is the lesson: the open source that became the enterprise, the database that became the prize, the software that runs the web.

The Database is the subject of this article: what Sun announced on Wednesday, who built MySQL, why the database is the heart of the web, and what the billion dollar bet means.

1. The Announcement on Wednesday

The announcement is the news, and the news is the Wednesday: the January 16 statement from Sun Microsystems, the agreement to acquire MySQL AB, the total consideration of approximately one billion dollars. The announcement is the report: the TechCrunch story that ran the same day, the headline that said Sun picks up MySQL for one billion dollars, the open source that was the subject, the price that was the point, the number that changed the conversation. The announcement is the moment: the software industry that stopped, the analysts who reached for the calculators, the blog posts that began that hour.

The announcement is also the week: the days since Wednesday morning, the questions that have not been answered, the deal that still has to close, the calendar that now belongs to Sun. The announcement is the January 2008 context: the Sun that was struggling since the bust, the MySQL that was growing, the match that was made, the reasons that were given, the doubts that were voiced. The announcement on Wednesday was the beginning, and the beginning was the bet: the billion dollars that will be watched, the open source that will be tested, the enterprise that will be changed.

2. The Swedish Company

The company is the origin, and the origin is Sweden: the MySQL AB that was founded in 1995, the founders David Axmark, Allan Larsson and Michael Widenius, the office that became the home of the database. The company is the history: the thirteen years of building, the software that spread without a sales force, the downloads that grew by word of mouth, the developers who chose MySQL because it worked. The company is the independence: the business that answered to its users, the firm that the giants could not ignore, the seller that would be bought for a billion dollars.

The company is also the money: the roughly 39 million dollars that was raised from Benchmark, from Index, from IVP, from Intel, from SAP, the investors who saw the value. The company is the scale: the most popular open source database in the world, the software that ran the web, the product that the billion dollar price would measure, the value that the market finally put on the code. The Swedish company was the seller, and the seller was the proof: the open source that could be worth real money, the founders who would be paid, the movement that had arrived.

3. The Database

The database is the product, and the product is the software: the MySQL that stores the data, that answers the queries, that runs the websites, that holds the records of the internet. The database is the ubiquity: the most popular open source database in the world, the engine behind the applications, the first choice of the developers, the default of the web, the name that appears in every stack. The database is the craft: the years of releases, the bugs that were fixed, the features that were added, the trust that was earned one deployment at a time, the reliability that no license fee could buy.

The database is also the competition: the proprietary giants that owned the enterprise, the Oracle and the IBM DB2 and the Microsoft SQL Server, the customers who were locked in, the maintenance fees that never ended. The database is the open source argument: the code that anyone could read, the license that anyone could use, the community that improved it, the cost that was near zero. The database was the wedge, and the wedge was the web: the stack that made the giants nervous, the alternative that the enterprise could finally choose, the pressure that would bring the prices down.

4. The Buyer

The buyer is the company, and the company is Sun: the Unix and Solaris and Java and hardware business, the name that defined the dot com era, the server maker that the web was built on. The buyer is the struggle: the firm that has been hurting since the bust, the sales that fell, the stock that sank, the identity that was lost. The buyer is the strategy: the bet on web infrastructure, the open source that was already embraced, the Solaris that was released as OpenSolaris, the Java that was opened, the direction that the chief executive has pushed.

The buyer is also the voice: the chief executive Jonathan Schwartz, the blog post that lavished praise, the welcome for the Swedish company, the message that the deal was about the future. The buyer is the commitment: the promise that the open source would stay open, the reassurance that the users needed, the question that every developer asked, the answer that Schwartz gave, the yes heard around the web. The buyer was the believer, and the believer was the bet: the billion dollars that Sun placed on the web, on open source, on the database, on the infrastructure of the next decade.

5. The Heart of the LAMP Stack

The stack is the architecture, and the architecture is the web: the Linux that runs the servers, the Apache that serves the pages, the MySQL that stores the data, the PHP that builds the applications. The stack is the story: the four letters that powered the internet, the combination that any developer could assemble, the software that cost nothing, the industry that was built on it. The stack is the prize: the phrase that said Sun buys the heart of the LAMP stack, the heart that was the database, the database that was MySQL, the purchase that the headlines repeated.

The heart is also the meaning: the open source that became the infrastructure, the free software that carried the commerce, the community that was now a company's asset, the code that the whole web rested on. The heart is the change: the stack that was once the hobbyist's choice, that became the startup's choice, that became the enterprise's choice, that now has a corporate owner. The heart of the LAMP stack was the target, and the target was the point: the web infrastructure that Sun wants to own, the platform that every site depends on, the database beneath it all.

6. The Open Source Question

The question is the license, and the license is the future: the MySQL that stays open, the code that stays free, the community that stays welcome, the promises that were made. The question is the worry: the users who depend on the database, the companies that built on it, the developers who contributed to it, the fear that the buyer would change the rules. The question is the answer: the chief executive who said yes, the open source that would remain open, the commitment that was stated, the trust that must hold, the word that was given in public, for all to see.

The question is also the moment: the biggest open source acquisition of its time, the test that the movement had never faced, the deal that would show whether open source could be big business and stay open source. The question is the precedent: the acquisitions that will follow, the founders who will cash out, the users who will watch, the model that will be judged by this one deal. The open source question was the doubt, and the doubt was the drama: the story of this week, the story that will run all year, the question that will not go away.

7. The Database Wars

The wars are the rivalry, and the rivalry is the enterprise: the Oracle that dominates the data centers, the IBM DB2 that runs the banks, the Microsoft SQL Server that ships with the Windows world. The wars are the stakes: the billions in license revenue, the customers who cannot leave, the databases that hold the crown jewels, the vendors that fight for every account, the margins that the open source threatens. The wars are the new front: the MySQL that undercuts the prices, that runs the web, that the giants could no longer dismiss, the price that fell this week.

The wars are also the question: the open source challenger that is now owned by a hardware maker, the Sun that sells the servers, the database that could ship with them, the balance that could shift. The wars are the January 2008 reading: the three giants that watched the deal, the analysts who recalculated, the enterprise buyers who wondered, the open source that changed the math. The database wars were the context, and the context was the prize: the data of the world, the software that holds it, the billion dollar bet that just landed in the middle of the field.

8. The Lesson

The lesson is the shift, and the shift is the software: the open source that was once the alternative, that became the default, that is now the enterprise software, that is worth a billion dollars. The lesson is the validation: the biggest open source acquisition of its time, the price that the market put on the movement, the recognition that the giants could not ignore. The lesson is the phrase: open source is the new enterprise software, the sentence that will be quoted, the claim that will be tested, the thesis of the coming years, the claim every vendor will repeat.

The lesson is also the bet: the Sun that staked its future, the billion dollars that were placed, the database that must deliver, the web infrastructure that must pay, the promise to keep. The lesson is the January 2008 story, and the story is the lesson: the announcement on Wednesday, the Swedish company, the open source that became the prize, the database that became the bet. The billion dollar bet is the beginning, and the beginning is the year: the question that the industry will answer, the open source that will be watched, the database that will define the decade.

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