Author Archives: Kaj Arnö
“Generative AI is a can of worms that has to be opened”. That was the laconic comment from a senior industry influencer, when I shared MariaDB Foundation’s plans for successively making MariaDB Server a platform for AI solutions. The statement combines the opportunity with the inevitability, the complexity with the need for stepwise refinement.
Late to the game?
Are we late to the game? I believe not. I believe this is the right timing. Open Source isn’t a pioneer when it comes to basic research or even early product development.
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Dear users of MySQL 5.7 (or 8.0)!
Are you interested in getting help migrating to MariaDB 10.6 or 10.11, the latest long-term support releases? Are you coming to Brussels for FOSDEM in February? Do you have an open attitude, not minding to show a bit of dirty laundry in front of other users?
Then you may be a perfect candidate for our MariaDB Migration Workshop at our pre-FOSDEM event on Friday 2 Feb 2024. The workshop will be led by none other than the father of both MySQL Server and MariaDB Server, namely Michael “Monty” Widenius.
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MariaDB Server has lots of energy and potential to increase its impact amongst Open Source RDBMSes. As the CEO of MariaDB Foundation, I’m happy to note that I can finally share a positive outlook for the next chapters in the story of MariaDB Server, based on what is happening with its namesake commercial entity, MariaDB plc. After years of missed opportunities, let me share with you why and how I have entered into this positive mood.
The Foundation and the plc are two separate entities …
Let me begin by reiterating what is clear only to those following MariaDB Server very closely, namely that MariaDB Foundation and MariaDB plc are two separate entities, with separate governance, separate staff, and separate – although not conflicting – goals.
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Continue reading “A positive new chapter for MariaDB Server”
HELSINKI — 4 October 2023 – The MariaDB Foundation, the global contact point for collaboration on the MariaDB Server, announced today that Amazon Web Services (AWS) has joined the Foundation as its first Diamond sponsor in order to continue the mission of openness, adoption and continuity for the MariaDB open source project.
According to the DB-Engines ranking list, the MariaDB Server is the third most popular open source relational database and ninth most popular relational database overall. This sponsorship will allow the Foundation to continue investing in its compatibility with other popular database solutions as well as to explore the role MariaDB Server can play in the growing world of generative AI.
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Continue reading “MariaDB Foundation Announces AWS as a Diamond Sponsor”
We are happy to release the schedule (https://mariadb.org/fest2023-schedule/) of our upcoming meeting week Tue-Thu 3-5 October 2023.
The week comes with meetings in four flavours:
- The MariaDB Server Fest presentations, directed at users of MariaDB Server. This is on Thursday 5 October 2023.
- The MariaDB Unconference presentations, directed at core developers of MariaDB Server. This is on Wednesday 4 October 2023.
- The MariaDB Unconference work sessions, interactions getting work done between MariaDB Foundation staff and core members of the ecosystem (including but not limited to MariaDB plc employees).
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Continue reading “MariaDB Un(Conference) and ServerFest Schedule 3-5 Oct 2023”
MariaDB Foundation is having its next planning session for the MariaDB Server Roadmap at our MariaDB Unconference Tue-Wed 3-4 October 2023.
All key contributors will be there
This will be a top-level meeting with representatives of all key contributors to MariaDB Server. From MariaDB plc, we will have CTO Jonah Harris and VP Server Engineering Sergei Golubchik representing management and resource allocation. But MariaDB Server is not a one-vendor product. We expect similar level representation from our second-biggest contributor, Amazon, and we also have confirmed roadmap attendance by Webpros, Alibaba, IBM, Intel, and others.
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Continue reading “Join us in planning the MariaDB Server Roadmap”
When setting long-term goals, striking the right balance is difficult: Not too generic (fluffy), not too specific (micromanagement). Not too few (lack of challenges), not too many (overwhelming). Consistently focusing on core values, while adapting to changes in the environment.
MariaDB Foundation’s internal goal setting process for 2023 seems to be working out well – and some lessons learned may be of interest even to our community.
The most important lesson learned is about our half-year review.
Adverse conditions when planning 2023
We set our 2023 yearly goals in December, with an emphasis on the first half of the year.
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Continue reading “On yearly goals, plc woes and habits at MariaDB Foundation”
Why does Intel sponsor the MariaDB Foundation? I had the opportunity to interview Steve Shaw, Principal Engineer at Intel and a Board Member at MariaDB Foundation.
I strongly urge you to look at the 09:34 long video on YouTube – Steve is well articulated and a pleasure to listen to. Still, here is a glimpse of what he goes into:
- MariaDB Server is incredibly popular software. Just the Docker image alone has had more than a billion downloads. The majority of MariaDB installations run on Intel servers and developers coding on Intel laptops and desktops.
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Continue reading “The value of sponsoring MariaDB Foundation”