me: summarize for me what the sun buyout of mysql means for the world at large Andrew: sun is a huge company Andrew: databases are a huge industry Andrew: and large companies rely on them Andrew: pretty much all websites run on top of a database Andrew: mysql is a company that makes open source database software Andrew: .NET is not open source Andrew: microsoft wrote a competition language to java called .NET Andrew: they are in competition with microsoft Andrew: their free software is very well known to programmers because it is free/open source, so it is cheaper for companies to higher programmer to work on it Andrew: today, they make most of their money by selling/hosting huge infrastructure installations to gigantic companies ... that just happen to run on their free software Andrew: essentially, every large product sun has ever developed ahs eventually gone open source, they contribute inexorably to the industry Andrew: a bunch fo other extremely high profile open source projects Andrew: zfs Andrew: they invented the solaris operating system Andrew: they invented java a very widely used language that is the basis for a great deal of the modern enterprise code in the world and the first truly crossplatform managed language Andrew: indeed, two models of how open source can work in teh business world Andrew: but it is also an alliance of two wildly popular and successful open source companies Andrew: essentially, this is an alliance of two of microsofts biggest foes in a market they are trying to muscle into Andrew: and heavy compeition with java in the compiler/vm share Andrew: microsoft is in heavy competition with mysql/oracle for database market share Andrew: mysql is dual licensed, ie, you can download it for free, or you can pay them and they will support any problems you have with it Andrew: mysql is likely the 3rd largest database vendor in the world, and the biggest open source on me: thanks, I'm just going to quote all that for a riight post me: but they're all at riight.com me: it's down right now Andrew: can you send me the link? me: and my fourth me: yeah, my second one Andrew: did you ever do an xkcd post? Andrew: there are lots of good posts on the subject Andrew: think you could jazz them up? Andrew: if I wrote some guides on simple hacking techniques for totall noobs Andrew: in the interests of promoting general anarchy Andrew: I was thinking Andrew: itll come back Andrew: must be a subnet thing Andrew: I can see it fine me: huh, I keep getting problem loading page messages when I try to view the blog me: I know, right? Andrew: what a atupid user! Andrew: This managed to pass under the bot's weary, virtual gaze. But then, another user, believing the bot to be temporarily down, decides to type "lol" over and over again. But the bot sees all, and is immune to mercy: -moderator/#xkcd-signal- zepolen, you have been muted for 795364 days 7 hours 32 minutes 16 seconds. Andrew: haha me: stugatza Andrew: http://www.thenewfreedom.net/wp/2008/01/16/richard-stallman-cranking-dat-soulja-boy/ Andrew: you should work in this recently surfaced video of richard stallman dancing Andrew: since you're posting about a huge open source news Andrew: what isn't? me: only if it's for the lulz Andrew: all me: all Andrew: shows what you know me: your mom