Benchmark results only have meaning when the workload, hardware, and methodology are clearly defined and reproducible. When those elements are unclear or incomplete, the conclusions can easily mislead readers into assuming the results represent something they do not.
That is the core issue with the recent Percona post comparing MySQL, Percona Server, and MariaDB.
This is not about disputing Percona’s numbers. Their results may be valid for their environment.
The problem is that the post presents the results in a way that implies a valid OLTP vendor comparison, while the underlying methodology and hardware make such a comparison impossible to support.
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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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We are pleased to welcome Sylvain Arbaudie as a sponsor of the MariaDB Foundation.
Sylvain Arbaudie is an independent consultant with extensive experience helping organisations design reliable, scalable data infrastructures. Having worked primarily with commercial systems early in his career, Sylvain has witnessed how open source has matured into a powerful foundation for innovation, technological sovereignty, and long-term freedom—often surpassing proprietary alternatives in robustness and adaptability.
Among relational databases he has followed—MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MariaDB—Sylvain sees MariaDB as standing apart through its clarity of design, integrated ecosystem, and enterprise-grade reliability. These qualities make it a strong choice for organisations of all sizes, from individual founders to global enterprises.
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The MariaDB Foundation is pleased to welcome HammerDB as a Silver Sponsor.
HammerDB is the industry-standard open-source database benchmark, widely used across the database, cloud, and hardware ecosystem to evaluate mission-critical performance, scalability, and real-world workload behaviour. Its transparent and reproducible workloads are trusted by practitioners and vendors alike when validating performance claims, comparing configurations, and understanding database behaviour under load.
HammerDB is developed independently and hosted by the TPC Council as part of the TPC-OSS program, providing a neutral and credible reference point for performance evaluation.
HammerDB has long supported MariaDB and is frequently used by the community to test new releases, investigate performance regressions, and build confidence in production deployments.
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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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It’s the time of the year to look back and reflect. In line with the holiday spirit, we’d like to highlight some of the MariaDB Server contributions from 2025 that the team found particularly inspiring and interesting, and to say thank you to everyone who submitted them.
At the end of the post, we invite the community to help us recognise the most impactful external contributions of the year.
- MDEV-36737 Research and Estimation for Adapting VIDEX to MariaDB: thank you, Haibo Yang (YoungHypo) and Rong Kang (kr11) from ByteDance for this very interesting contribution.
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Continue reading “A Year in Review: Notable External Contributions to MariaDB Server in 2025”
The Queen’s Seven Predictions for 2026
When Queen Isabella I of Castile agreed to fund Columbus, it was not because the idea felt daring or exciting. It was because the old routes were failing. Europe’s trade system had become expensive, fragile, and constrained, and maintaining it unchanged was no longer a neutral decision. Supporting the voyage was not an act of romance, but of governance: an acceptance that continuing as before carried greater risk than change.
Crucially, nothing collapsed overnight. Trade still flowed. Goods still arrived. But every journey became longer, costlier, and more politically exposed.
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We are pleased to announce the availability of a preview of the MariaDB 12.3 series. MariaDB 12.3 will be a long-term release.
MariaDB 12.3 introduces numerous new features, in particular
Compatibility features
- Oracle TO_DATE() function (MDEV-19683)
- Support for cursors on prepared statements (MDEV-33830)
- SQL Standard SET PATH statement (MDEV-34391)
- SQL Standard Global Temporary Tables (MDEV-35915)
- SQL Standard IS JSON predicate (MDEV-37072)
- Allow UPDATE/DELETE to read from a CTE (MDEV-37220)
- XMLTYPE data type (MDEV-37261)
Replication
- Configurable defaults for MASTER_SSL_* settings for CHANGE MASTER (MDEV-28302)
- Fragment ROW replication events larger than max_packet_size (MDEV-32570)
- Improving performance of binary logging by removing the need of syncing it (MDEV-34705)
Miscellaneous
- New hash algorithms for PARTITION BY KEY (MDEV-9826)
- Hashicorp Plugin: Implement cache flush for forced key rotation (MDEV-30847)
- Optimise reorderable LEFT JOINs (MDEV-36055)
Thanks, and enjoy MariaDB!
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