@lewismenelaws: Michael Widenius created MySQL and named it after his daughter, My. He sold it to Sun for $1 billion… then Oracle bought Sun, and suddenly the database he built was owned by its biggest competitor 👀 So the same day the deal was announced, he forked MySQL into MariaDB — named after his OTHER daughter. He warned Oracle would let MySQL stagnate. The EU approved the deal anyway. Fast forward: MySQL still works, but the community version quietly lost features to Oracle’s paid edition while bug reports piled up. Meanwhile MariaDB stayed fully compatible, so Wikipedia, Google, and most Linux distros just… switched. Then in 2024, MariaDB got bought by private equity. History rhyming. (He also has a third database, MaxDB, named after his son. He only has 3 kids — so don’t expect a fourth.) Follow for more stories like this 🔧 #programming #coding #softwareengineering #database #techtok
Coding with Lewis
Region: CA
Thursday 04 June 2026 16:23:02 GMT
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gyhcggfcccf :
No reason to not use postgres
2026-06-04 18:17:04
160
tiktoktoe963 :
So he keeps selling what he’s doing and then forking it to sell it again?
2026-06-05 01:27:09
45
glorious.porpoise :
Has he considered not selling to private equity
2026-06-06 07:44:02
8
💙Rick💙 :
That’s when I started using PostgreSQL.
2026-06-05 12:59:40
2
Black Wolf :
this Guy just confused me which one is now
SQL and mongo DB
2026-06-04 19:58:30
8
flutterwhiz :
Bro just bored and creating dbs after his offsprings
2026-06-04 22:39:54
60
shatap :
who is mongo then?
2026-06-04 19:58:18
6
ViTalityGone :
I used postgresql
2026-06-05 06:55:31
1
Not Telling855 :
Technically this guy has sold out his open source followers twice now.
2026-06-05 11:53:11
18
uioik00 :
so why does he keep selling?
2026-06-04 23:27:33
4
hopisan :
This is not entirely accurate. Under Oracle, MySQL (the free version) got ahead of MariaDB. One thing I saw was that it developed much better query optimization. So Oracle did more than keep it alive.
2026-06-06 21:40:36
2
SriLankaScamCulture :
I have used and developed original DB technology since 1980, MySQL is the worst database I have ever used. The absolute worst!
2026-06-06 02:24:39
0
birdly_68 ❌ :
There’s another problem with my SQL, which is Oracle won’t let you put it into a product that you sell. You then have to pay them a royalty or get sued. Unfortunately, my SQL is backed to innumerable legacy systems .
2026-06-05 08:16:06
0
MimsyMad :
Not quite the full story. There is a commercial company called mariadb.com but the development is still controlled by a foss organisation and is wholly independent.
2026-06-05 08:32:59
1
Coding with Lewis :
What a crazy timeline
2026-06-04 16:23:56
4
cloverleif :
So basically he found a way to have a project print money by forking it after each sale, and selling the result each time.
2026-06-05 21:42:07
2
dmorto24 :
Can you imagine being at Oracle and they put you on the MySQL team….
2026-06-05 17:47:45
1
Jimmy :
so he's just creating databases and selling them off and then when the companies he sell to makes decisions he doesn't like he starts a new one? That's one way to make money I guess, but like it's starting to look like a pattern
2026-06-05 07:42:33
7
TheRealDeal :
I like this guy 😂
2026-06-04 23:55:53
1
gmrb0790 :
bro said nothing
2026-06-05 02:13:51
1
PeaceMaker :
postures for the win
2026-06-05 02:22:31
0
Siyabonga Dube :
Postgres
2026-06-05 20:37:23
0
Cardbox studio :
Fr🔥
2026-06-04 16:27:11
0
Sam-G :
I literally wrote something with MySQL 🙌🏾🙌🏾 today lol I’m switching to max 🤭
2026-06-04 17:58:01
2
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