I will do everything that is possible to keep MySQL alive," says Michael (Monty) Widenius, the main developer of the well-known open source database. "I just hope it's enough."

Monty Widenius, founder of MySQL, has said in a blog posting – "Thoughts on Dual-Licensing Open Source Software" – that he recently became aware that Sun Microsystem's OEM licence agreement for MySQL would restrict users who had signed up for the commercial licence to the open source database from modifying MySQL or using any forks of MySQL.

his morning Sun Microsystems announced that it was purchasing MySQL AB for $1 billion, $800 million of which is supposed to be paid in cash. This is a huge deal in the open source community. Two minutes after I heard the news, I begged an invitation to the "no press" MySQL company meeting at which the announcement had been made, drove two hours to Orlando, and sat down for lunch with Sun vice president (and Java creator) James Gosling and MySQL AB cofounder David Axmark. After lunch I corraled MySQL CTO (and original MySQL creator) Michael "Monty" Widenius and MySQL chief database architect Brian Aker, and got their opinions about how the acquisition might work out and what it means for both companies.

Monty Widenius, creator of the free MySQL database and for years chief developer of the namesake company, does not want to see his creation handed over to Oracle. In a press release, he writes that he shares the EU Commission's concerns about Oracle's takeover of MySQL from its present owner Sun.

Mickos [Mårten] was recruited to lead open-source database provider MySQL AB in 2001 by chief technology officer and co-founder Michael “Monty” Widenius, a college classmate. Since then, the MySQL database has become one of the most popular open-source technologies around, used by many of the biggest Web 2.0 sites.

Former JBoss chief Marc Fleury has weighed in on MySQL co-founder Monty Widenius' campaign to stop Oracle's ownership of the open-source database. Fleury has reprimanded Widenius publicly in his blog, calling the MySQL "situation" a "disgrace" that's hurting Sun and could damage the future of open source software.

Sun may have the MySQL name, but every one has its open-source code and MySQL co-founder Monty Widenius is taking the popular open-source DBMS (database management system) and forking it in a new directions.

With Oracle now owning MySQL, I think that the need for an independent true Open Source entity for MySQL is even bigger than ever before.

Michael "Monty" Widenius was the creator of the MySQL database, and founder of Monty Program Ab. He recently spoke with Dr. Dobb's Jonathan Erickson.