Author Archives: Kaj Arnö
Earlier this month, I had a half-hour chat with Kellyn Gorman, a Database and AI Advocate and Engineer at Redgate. The UK software company is known for database DevOps and database management tools most databases – and since 2024 as the owner of DB-Engines popularity Ranking of database management systems.
The chat was an intellectual pleasure, to say the least. Kellyn is outstandingly well informed on databases, with a background starting in Oracle, spanning most databases as a DBA and industry analyst, and by now using MariaDB for about fifteen years, almost since its inception.
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Continue reading “Database Trends: What is changing in the database world (besides AI)”
Why MariaDB is both its own database — and the natural continuation of MySQL
Because MariaDB is at the same time a completely independent database and a fundamentally compatible extension of MySQL, the MySQL user base is not dependent upon Oracle nor upon new forks of MySQL for their future. For pragmatical reasons – and those have always carried weight in the MySQL universe – MariaDB is part of the MySQL ecosystem.
Applications, teams, skills, investments, and use cases — all of it remains viable within the MariaDB part of the MySQL ecosystem.
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FOSDEM was exciting from a MariaDB perspective for many reasons this year. For this blog, let me concentrate on one aspect: The discussions at what was called the “Summit for MySQL Community, Europe”, hosted by Percona on Monday 2 Feb 2026 at the Marriott Grand Place in central Brussels.
We got the answer key – the “Oracle examiner’s solution”
With many of my former MySQL AB colleagues leaving Oracle over the years, I certainly had a fairly good picture of what has been happening at Oracle since I left the company shortly after the acquisition of Sun Microsystems was completed in 2009.
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Continue reading “Reading the Room: What Europe’s MySQL Community Is Really Saying”
MariaDB is the natural replacement for MySQL. Why? Because it is the organic continuation of the MySQL that conquered the Internet. MySQL 8.0 is a fork of that foundation, while MariaDB stayed on track.
That said, the MySQL fork is soft: Compatibility remains remarkable and migration back to the mothership is smooth.
As the Chairman of the MariaDB Foundation, and someone having joined MySQL AB’s management team in 2001, that is my response to the article As Oracle loses interest in MySQL, devs mull future options in The Register.
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Continue reading “MariaDB is the natural replacement for MySQL”
At the MariaDB Foundation, clarity of purpose matters. In an ecosystem as foundational as open-source databases, confidence is built not through slogans, but through predictability, restraint, and long-term commitment.
As I reflect upon what we learned in 2025 and how we can serve the database community in 2026, one thought stands out: MariaDB is the natural successor to MySQL, as Oracle loses its interest in the development of what has been the default Open Source Relational DBMS.
The MariaDB Foundation recognises its responsibility. As uncertainty around MySQL’s long-term direction continues to grow, the global community of users, operators, and vendors quite reasonably seeks continuity.
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Continue reading “Making MariaDB the Natural Successor to MySQL”
Last Saturday marked an exciting milestone: the announcement of the winners in our first large-scale MariaDB Python Hackathon, organised in collaboration with BangPypers, HackerEarth, and MariaDB plc. Over the past months, developers from across India have explored new ways to make MariaDB easier to use, more connected, and better integrated into today’s most important open-source ecosystems.
This post celebrates the outstanding contributions in both the Integration Track — projects that help MariaDB work seamlessly with other tools and frameworks – and the Innovation Track – projects that showcase existing MariaDB features and make it easy to learn, copy, and adapt.
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Continue reading “BangPypers x MariaDB Python Hackathon – Winners Announced!”
When co-founding MariaDB plc under the name SkySQL Corporation fifteen years ago (before MariaDB Foundation existed), we picked the name SkySQL with a bit of a reference to the cloud. Obviously, we didn’t then have a clear understanding of what type of a cloud offering MariaDB should have. I am glad to note that those days are finally and completely over, with MariaDB Cloud. I wish it hadn’t taken fifteen years!
So now, I sat down for a proper chat with Jags Ramnarayan, the technical father of SkySQL / MariaDB Cloud.
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Continue reading “MariaDB Cloud: A Semi-Technical Introduction”
Last Friday, we hosted an Ask Me Anything session with HackerEarth – and we promised to share the same insights here in written form. So here it is: your guide to success in the MariaDB Python Hackathon!
A Great Idea Is Only the Beginning
A brilliant idea submission is just the start. The real work lies in the development — and that’s exactly what’s happening this month.
We want you to succeed. Success can mean that your hackathon contribution is widely used, that it puts you in the spotlight, and that it builds your reputation as a developer who makes a real impact.
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Continue reading “How to Succeed in the MariaDB Python Hackathon, Bangalore”