[debian-mysql] Will we see MariaDB in Jessie?

[Clint Byrum]

On 2013-05-06 10:54, Paul Tagliamonte wrote:
> On Mon, May 06, 2013 at 07:39:50PM +0200, Patrick Matthäi wrote:
>> 
>> As long as _MySQL_ maintainers are able (and want) to continue MySQL 
>> (or
> 
> It's my understanding a lot of them jumped ship.
> 

At the time Oracle purchased Sun, there was really only one active 
MySQL maintainer, Norbert Tretkowski. He got busy and was unable to keep 
up. While I was employed by Canonical and charged with MySQL maintenance 
for Ubuntu, it became clear to me that Debian needed help, so I took up 
the charge and started working on updating to MySQL 5.5. Around the same 
time Nicholas Bamber also stepped up and did a ton of amazing work to 
get things in order and clean them up for the switch to MySQL 5.5. Since 
leaving Canonical I have kept up what little maintenance I can with what 
little free time I have for Debian.

So, the jumping ship has little to do with Oracle. MySQL maintenance in 
Debian has long been in need of help.


> Meh. +1 to kill MySQL for MariaDB. It's got a much better future. I 
> see
> it more like a libc changeover. Who cares, it's got the same 
> interface.
> We only have things to gain (better upstream, upstream commited to 
> real
> f/oss, new features, etc.)
> 

Otto has stepped up and done most of the hard work of getting MariaDB 
in a state where it can at least be in the archive along side MySQL. I 
have been trying to keep up with Oracle's insidious non-disclosure 
policies (basically shipping every minor release as a security release), 
but it is getting harder and harder to justify the effort and thus far 
nobody else has stepped up to help.

Once MariaDB is in Debian, I may consider stopping my maintenance of 
MySQL. For now though, it is important that we keep it healthy for the 
current users. We should also carefully consider what MySQL users would 
be faced with if we ever "dropped" MySQL.