Why MySQL Grew So Fast

Andy Oram, editor at O'Reilly talks about the MySQL business model at the 2004 MySQL Users Conference:

MySQL represents the most impressive market success, exceeded only perhaps by Apache, in free and open source software. In terms of installed base, MySQL has left the technically impressive rival PostgreSQL in the dust. It has marginalized mSQL, SQLite, and SAP DB (the last of which I'll return to later). It has started to challenge the proprietary database companies on their own turf, as already mentioned. Nobody can say why licensing costs for proprietary databases have plummeted in recent years, but one suspects that it's due to MySQL's competition, as are the large discounts Microsoft has offered certain customers.

Posted by Tom on May 05, 2004