Oracle snaffles up MySQL's buddy

Database heavyweight Oracle has acquired Innobase Oy, a privately held Finnish company with close ties to open source database company MySQL.

Terms of the deal, which was announced on Friday, were not disclosed.

Innobase, a profitable company that was founded 10 years ago, makes a database "engine" called InnoDB for storing data to the MySQL database. Its engine is available under the open source general public licence (GPL) and distributed with the MySQL database, a low-end alternative to Oracle's namesake database.

Oracle said the acquisition indicates it is increasingly working with open source products.

Charles Rozwat, Oracle's executive vice president in charge of database and middleware technology, said in a statement: "Oracle intends to continue developing the InnoDB technology and expand our commitment to open source software. Oracle has already developed and contributed an open source clustered file system to Linux. We expect to make additional contributions in the future."

Oracle said it expects to renew the current contractual relationship between Innobase and MySQL when it comes up for renewal next year.

MySQL said in a statement on Saturday that Oracle's move is an endorsement of the "open source movement".

MySQL CEO Marten Mickos said: "The beauty of open source software and the GPL licence is freedom. As with all MySQL code, InnoDB is provided under the GPL licence, meaning that users have complete freedom to use, develop and modify the code base.

"This also means that database developers now have even greater flexibility to use MySQL and Oracle in the same environment."

Mickos noted that customers can choose different database storage engines to run with MySQL other than InnoDB.

MySQL is one of a handful of smaller companies that is using open source licences and business models to take on entrenched database suppliers.

Facing competition from open source alternatives, IBM, Oracle and Microsoft have each lowered their database prices and created low-end bundles aimed at smaller organisations and partners.

Martin LaMonica writes for CNET News.com