Oracle set to disclose MySQL plans next week

IDG News Service - MySQL users are set to receive fresh information about Oracle's road map for the open-source database during a keynote address by chief corporate architect Edward Screven at Tuesday's O'Reilly MySQL Conference & Expo in Santa Clara, California.

"We're looking forward to outlining our plans for MySQL and providing the development community with deeper insight into the enhancements they can expect right now and moving forward," Screven said in a statement released Thursday.

MySQL "is strategic to Oracle," he added.

Oracle also announced a pair of MySQL user forums will occur May 6 in Amsterdam and June 3 in Redwood Shores, California.

Since Oracle first announced plans to buy Sun Microsystems, former owner of MySQL, advocates expressed fear the vendor would somehow stifle the database's development in an effort to protect its own propriety database platform.

The merger was even held up for months as European antitrust authorities weighed the implications of Oracle owning MySQL.

Oracle released a list of pledges regarding MySQL in December, including promises to continue making the database available through the General Public License; to not require customers to buy support from Oracle in order to get a commercial MySQL license; and to boost spending on research and development.

Still, speculation remains about how Oracle will handle MySQL in the long term, and observers will no doubt be looking for more specifics from Screven's talk.