Category Archives: Foundation
Legend says Queen Guinevere once presided over a court where knights debated honor and destiny. In my version, the knights bring code diffs, sponsorship agreements, and opinions on open source governance. There’s less jousting, more Zoom calls — and while I lack a crown, I do wield a formidable calendar and an unshakable belief in collaboration.
As I reflect on the May 2025 meeting of the MariaDB Foundation Board, one truth stands tall (in shining armor): the MariaDB kingdom is not divided. It is uniting.
Harmony in the Realm
The collaboration between MariaDB Foundation and MariaDB plc has never been more dynamic — or more impactful.
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Continue reading “The Round Table Expands: A Queen’s Reflections on Unity and Momentum”
I suppose not all of my readers have a first hand (or even second hand) experience of the girls-night-in. So let me shed some light on this sacred ritual of tea, sympathy and soul-baring conversation that zigzags from the ridiculous to the profound and back again in under 30 seconds.
There a few eternal mysteries that always seem to come up –
Like:
“Why do I have nothing to wear when my wardrobe is clearly full of clothes?”
And:
“Why does cat food smell weirdly delicious?”
(Okay, I do know the answer to that one: stop crash-dieting already!
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Continue reading “The Queen, the contributions and the wardrobe”
There’s a question I like to ask people sometimes—especially at turning points:
“What’s your word?”
One word to capture how you feel, where you are, or what’s driving you right now. No explanations. Just instinct.
Today, mine is: Adventure.
Not necessarily the reckless kind, but the kind that stretches you—where you step into something unfamiliar and see what happens. That’s exactly what this season at MariaDB is like.
And maybe the most “adventurous” thing I’ve done so far? Emailing Andy Pavlo.
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Continue reading “The Queen’s Gambit: Through the Looking Glass into the Query Optimizer”
We are delighted to welcome Tempesta Technologies as a Silver Sponsor of the MariaDB Foundation!
Tempesta Technologies is the developer of Tempesta FW, an open-source hybrid of a web accelerator and a multi-layer firewall. Engineered for maximum efficiency, Tempesta FW is tightly integrated with the Linux TCP/IP stack and leverages cutting-edge technologies to deliver exceptional web application performance. It provides robust protection against DDoS and web attacks while ensuring smooth, high-speed operation under normal conditions.
This partnership underscores MariaDB Server’s continued commitment to performance and efficiency—not just in terms of database speed and scalability, but across the broader ecosystem that powers modern web infrastructure.
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Continue reading “Tempesta Technologies Becomes Silver Sponsor of MariaDB Foundation”
March was a busy month in the world of MariaDB!
Let’s explore the progress through the lens of the Six Goals for 2025, introduced in January.
Board Meeting 1/2025: New Executive Chairman, new CEO
But before we dive into that, let me briefly highlight developments from the two most recent Board Meetings. In the Report from the Board blog post about the late February meeting, I already noted a key organisational change:
- I am transitioning my role to be Executive Chairman, providing the overall leadership vision for the transformation of the Foundation and expanding the Foundation’s presence and influence in the industry.
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Continue reading “This month in MariaDB Foundation: Mar 2025”
This past Friday was reserved for our very own cozy event in Bucharest, planned by the romanian squad of the MariaDB Foundation. With an audience ranging from students just starting out on their journey up to seniors with experience in multiple database servers and AI, lots of interesting talks took place. We were glad to meet the Head of Domains and IT Technology of our gold sponsor, IONOS.
Although not his first visit in Romania, Monty’s attendance was a welcome sight, even bringing in people from the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.
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We live in a world where national interests intertwine with IT vendor interests. Interest is currently booming in “European Alternatives“. I’m happy to note that MariaDB Server is unaffected by considerations related to protectionism. In fact, choosing Open Source protects the user – an individual, an organisation, or a government – from protectionism itself.
Licensing prevails over national interests
Politicians come and go. National interests prevail a bit longer than individual politicians.
Companies also evolve, get acquired and merged across national borders.
Licensing of already released software remains constant across mergers and acquisitions.
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Exactly one month ago, I found myself stepping into the role of CEO at MariaDB Foundation. It was a bit like being handed the keys to a beloved old ship and being told, “Don’t worry, it mostly steers itself… unless there’s a storm. Or a kraken. Or a GitHub issue.”
As someone whose surname gives away a bit of context, it’s both an honor and a deeply personal journey to be entrusted with stewarding this next chapter. I used to say that I have done my bit for the project by adding “Maria” to “MariaDB”, but what do you know it turns out – there is a lot more out there for me to do!!!
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Continue reading “The Accidental Queen of the Database Dominion – Month one”