Firebird related news
Now there seems to be a clear response. MySQL has hired former Firebird developer Jim Starkey and MySQL has a new CTO: Taneli Otala – read Kaj Arnö’s interview with Taneli.
The final statement on this interview declares a clear goal: “Definitely. I want to be part of the team building the world’s best database!”. The times when MySQL targeted itself mainly to drive small and medium web based applications are definitely over!
Read more on db4free blog
The latest LinuxQuestions.org Podcast. Topics include LQ conference updates, 2005 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards, your feedback on LQ, the LQ Articles and Editorials section, the MySQL acquisition of Netfrastructure, more on the MySQL, Oracle, SAP rumors and the TCO study sponsored by OSDL and Levanta.
–jeremy
ED:Members Choice Awards For Databases (will be published in 6March)
A new paper directed to all users who are meeting Firebird for the first time is now available online. Check it out and you may see that 2 minutes can change your whole vision about database servers!
Developers from turboCASH are asking for Lazarus programers (people that program using Lazarus IDE) to set up a small test application to prove that Lazarus can be IDE of choice to port turboCASH to Linux.
Andrew Hudson has a review of open source database companies over on OSNews. "IBPhoenix employs 6 people, grossed $50k its first year, and has nearly doubled revenue each year since. Beach formed InterBase Software to commercialize the existing and mature code base that Borland had taken open source after several years of closed source development. Borland continues to sell InterBase as a closed source product. InterBase is a relatively small company but it is profitable, it has a solid international presence, and it is growing rapidly."
Read more here
Neil McAllister has an insightful article on the relative position of proprietary and closed source databases. He argues that "free to develop, pay to deploy" is becoming the norm in both worlds.
Read more here
Business Week Online writes: "Can open-source upstarts compete with Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft? It's an uphill battle, but customers are starting to look at the alternatives."
Read more here
Here is a recent interview I did with Ann, by email. I hope this can clarify a bit more the recent moves regarding Ann, Jim, Firebird and MySQL.
FBNews: In Jim’s recent announcementmessage, he says that you will be working for MySQL AB too. Are you officially employed at MySQL AB? If so, what is your currently role there?
Ann: Yes, I’m working half time for MySQL as a senior architect. In other words, I critique designs and try to make the system fit together smoothly.
FBNews: As you are one of IBPhoenix owners, how do you plan to handle working for two databases that are, in some way, competitors? Are you considering leaving IBPhoenix?
The invoicing of the year 2005 was of 1,68 billion dollars, growth of 10% compared to the previous year. Of this sum, 46% had come of the Americas region, where Brazil is inserted. In Brazil, the growth was of 22%. Read more here (in portuguese).
As you should know, SAS is the company who sponsored VULCAN development. They use a customized engine of Firebird in their products.
Forrester Research Inc.'s analyst Noel Yuhanna projects that mission-critical deployments of open source databases will increase by 20% this year. It is that growth that Yuhanna believes will drive the OSS database market from $300 million now to the $1 billion mark by 2008.
Read more here
