Re: [development] Oracle buys SleepyCat
On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 15:39:28 +0100, <karoly@negyesi.net> wrote:
Doh, where's my letter? So, about SQLite. 2.8 does not fit Drupal (lock mechanism and two serious bugs) and 3.x requires PDO which has been been moved from PECL to PHP core in PHP 5.1 Per http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/3573486 it's not impossible that PHP 6 will be out this year and by other reports I am too lazy to Google out, it's expected that PHP6 will spread much faster than PHP 5. Then there will be SQLite and we will support it. Regards NK
If Oracle buys Zend and plays nasty with PHP development, that could be ugly, couldn't it? I worry more about PHP getting screwed than MySQL, because there are ready alternatives to MySQL but not for PHP. Java? Python? Ruby? Bleagh. ;-) ..chrisxj
On 2/15/06, Chris Johnson <chris@tinpixel.com> wrote:
If Oracle buys Zend and plays nasty with PHP development, that could be ugly, couldn't it? I worry more about PHP getting screwed than MySQL, because there are ready alternatives to MySQL but not for PHP. Java? Python? Ruby? Bleagh. ;-)
No, that is somewhat different. PHP as a language is not owned/controlled by a company. MySQL is. The PHP language is, and has always been, open source from the start. It is being developed independantly of Zend, which specializes in tools for PHP (IDE, accelerator, ...etc.), but does not control PHP. The same is true for Drupal, which is not controlled by a company, unlike other CMSs which have GPL versions (e.g. ezPublish). It all depends on: 1. What Oracle does, and when? 2. The financial impact on MySQL AB (the company). 3. Reaction of the MySQL community (can they pick up and continue?) 4. Reaction of hosting companies (they go PostgreSQL or SQLite, or stay with MySQL) Too blurry now ... that, or I need my crystal ball washed ...
On 15-Feb-06, at 11:39 AM, Khalid B wrote:
On 2/15/06, Chris Johnson <chris@tinpixel.com> wrote:
If Oracle buys Zend and plays nasty with PHP development, that could be ugly, couldn't it? I worry more about PHP getting screwed than MySQL, because there are ready alternatives to MySQL but not for PHP. Java? Python? Ruby? Bleagh. ;-)
No, that is somewhat different.
PHP as a language is not owned/controlled by a company. MySQL is.
The PHP language is, and has always been, open source from the start. It is being developed independantly of Zend, which specializes in tools for PHP (IDE, accelerator, ...etc.), but does not control PHP.
Well, except for the fact that PHP 4+ depends pretty heavily on the Zend scripting engine ... which, it is unclear to me who actually owns the copyright on. It looks to me in my php 4.4.2 sources, that until 2002 the Zend portion was actually under it's own "Zend Licence" and copywritten to Zend. (php-4.4.2/Zend/LICENSE). However, perhaps the copyright has been signed over to the PHP Group now? I think the concern here, is that copyright owners have the right to change the license of their software. So, while, yes it's free software ... it could mean that the Zend engine (i.e. the heart of current php) ceases to be developed in the open... and has to be picked up or redone by someone else. This is a whole lot of speculation - and I certainly am not an authority... though I've been given good reason to believe that the PHP Group (which is *not* controlled by Zend) is in control, and there's little to worry about. I guess we'll see.
The same is true for Drupal, which is not controlled by a company, unlike other CMSs which have GPL versions (e.g. ezPublish).
It all depends on:
1. What Oracle does, and when? 2. The financial impact on MySQL AB (the company). 3. Reaction of the MySQL community (can they pick up and continue?) 4. Reaction of hosting companies (they go PostgreSQL or SQLite, or stay with MySQL)
Too blurry now ... that, or I need my crystal ball washed ...
Yeah, IMO, Oracle is out to put the squeeze on MySQL AB... not PHP. Oracle does not compete with PHP... Wild speculation: that Oracle is looking to take on MySQL's market by gaining better PHP support (and buying Zend would give them considerable PHP expertise). But, exactly ... it's all a blurry crystal ball at this point.
On 2/15/06, James Walker <walkah@walkah.net> wrote:
Yeah, IMO, Oracle is out to put the squeeze on MySQL AB... not PHP. Oracle does not compete with PHP... Wild speculation: that Oracle is looking to take on MySQL's market by gaining better PHP support (and buying Zend would give them considerable PHP expertise). But, exactly ... it's all a blurry crystal ball at this point.
Oracle does have large investments in a dizzying variety of products and technologies. I don't think it's hard to find one of them that "competes" with PHP and even Drupal e.g. their forms server/application/framework. It may not be publicly visible, but it is in large use internally in many large companies. The pessimistic view on these investments and on the speculations about other purchases is certainly a very scary one. Greg
This is a whole lot of speculation - and I certainly am not an authority... though I've been given good reason to believe that the PHP Group (which is *not* controlled by Zend) is in control, and there's little to worry about.
And in case something happens with Zend Engine, Parrot was mentioned back in 2004 and Pint already exists. I sleep well on the future of PHP. Regards NK
participants (6)
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Chris Johnson -
Greg Knaddison -
James Walker -
Karoly Negyesi -
karoly＠negyesi.net
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Khalid B