MySQL
| License | FOSS problems | Maintenance | SSO | Users | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPLv2Copyleft license. If you distribute it, modified or not, you must publish the source under GPLv2 too. No network-service clause — running it as a hosted service doesn't trigger that. | Dual-licensed, Oracle-owned, commercial tier gated behind a separate license | Active | — | Unlimited | ❌ |
Description
MySQL is the relational database MariaDB forked from, now owned by Oracle since its 2010 acquisition of Sun Microsystems. One of the most widely deployed databases in the world, with an enormous ecosystem of tooling and hosting built around it.
Features
- Dual-licensed — GPLv2 for the community edition, a separate commercial license for Oracle's enterprise features.
- Ubiquity — one of the most widely deployed relational databases, with tooling and hosting-provider support assuming it by default.
Usage patterns
- Software that names MySQL specifically — if a piece of self-hosted software only documents itself against MySQL by name rather than "MySQL or MariaDB," running MySQL directly removes a layer of compatibility guessing.
- Familiarity — more existing tutorials, forum answers, and hosting-provider tooling assume MySQL specifically than assume its fork.
License and governance
GPLv2 for the community edition, dual-licensed with a separate commercial license for Oracle's enterprise features. Oracle's ownership is the same category of concern as IBM's ownership of Terraform — a single commercial entity controlling the roadmap of software this deeply embedded in other people's infrastructure, with the dual-license structure already built to gate features by tier.
Conclusion
Why you would — ubiquity: more tutorials, tooling, and hosting-provider support assume MySQL specifically, and it removes a layer of compatibility guessing for software that names MySQL directly rather than "MySQL or MariaDB."
Why you wouldn't — MariaDB exists specifically to route around Oracle's ownership, stays compatible enough for most uses, and doesn't carry the same single-vendor risk.