[debian-mysql] Bug#688505: MariaDB packaging.

[Robert de Bath]

Package: mysql-server
Version: 5.5.24+dfsg-8
Severity: wishlist

My very technically savvy webhost has recently switched from MySQL to
MariaDB and claim it's for both technical and political reasons.

Both of these reasons (better performance and better licensing) appear
to be good reasons for the software to be packaged as a Debian package
and I expect it's getting to the point that someone will do it themselves.

BUT the software is technically still not a forked variant of MySQL
but a patched version where the maintainers continually resync to the
Oracle releases. For this reason I would like to see it treated as just
a simple MySQL version within Debian. This way the users (ie: me) can
simply switch by prodding apt in the right way.

For this to work seamlessly (unlike, for example, the recent multimedia
troubles) the MariaDB package should be packaged identically to MySQL,
which IMO is best done by the same Debian maintainers.

So my request is that you package the MariaDB as a secondary version of
MySQL in such a way that the two packages can be seamlessly switched 
within the Debian system.

-- 
Rob.                          (Robert de Bath <robert$ @ debath.co.uk>)
                                              <http://www.debath.co.uk/>