[debian-mysql] tentative release notes item

[Vincent McIntyre]

Hello

I drafted the note below and wanted to ask for your comments
before opening a release-notes bug. I also have a question:

 - How does the mysql->mariadb conversion operate?
   By converting the binary database files in-place,
   or a dump and restore? I am wondering if there should be
   a reminder to dump the database contents before upgrading.
 
I think it would help people learning about mysql/mariadb in Debian
if there was a brief note in the wiki FAQ page about the default-*
packaging. Should I just go and plunk something in there or would you
prefer I send a draft to the list for correction?

Kind regards
Vince

Index: en/whats-new.dbk
===================================================================
--- en/whats-new.dbk    (revision 11370)
+++ en/whats-new.dbk    (working copy)
@@ -431,6 +431,40 @@
   </para>
 
 </section>
+
+<section id="mariadb-replaces-mysql">
+  <title>MariaDB replaces MySQL</title>
+  <para>
+    MariaDB is now the default MySQL variant in Debian, at version 10.1.
+    The &Releasename; release introduces a new mechanism for switching the
+    default variant, using metapackages created from the
+    <systemitem role="package">mysql-defaults</systemitem> source package.
+    Installing the metapackage 
+    <systemitem role="package">default-mysql-server</systemitem>
+    will pull in 
+    <systemitem role="package">mariadb-server-10.1</systemitem>.
+    Users who had
+    <systemitem role="package">mysql-server-5.5</systemitem> or
+    <systemitem role="package">mysql-server-5.6</systemitem> will have it
+    removed and replaced by the MariaDB equivalent.
+    Similarly, installing
+    <systemitem role="package">default-mysql-client</systemitem>
+    will pull in
+    <systemitem role="package">mariadb-client-10.1</systemitem>.
+    Note that once you have switched to MariaDB, it might not possible to
+    convert your in-place database files back to MySQL automatically, since
+    Oracle does not maintain tools to convert possible MariaDB features
+    present in the binary format.
+    The <systemitem role="package">virtual-mysql-*</systemitem> packages
+    will continue to exist.
+    MySQL continues to be maintained in Debian, but bugs in version 5.7
+    prevented it being included in &Releasename;.
+    See the <ulink url="http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/MySQL">Debian MySQL Team
+    wiki page</ulink> and the
+    <ulink url="http://packages.debian.org/msyql-defaults">mysql-default
+    package page</ulink> for more information.
+  </para>
+
 <section id="debug-archive">
   <!-- jessie to stretch -->
   <title>A new archive for debug symbols</title>


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