Written in C, C++, Perl, Bash | ||
Developer(s) MariaDB Corporation Ab, MariaDB Foundation Initial release 22 January 2009 (2009-01-22) Stable release 10.1.21 (January 18, 2017; 53 days ago (2017-01-18)) [±] Repository github.com/MariaDB/server Operating system | ||
MariaDB is a community-developed fork of the MySQL relational database management system intended to remain free under the GNU GPL. Development is led by some of the original developers of MySQL, who forked it due to concerns over its acquisition by Oracle Corporation. Contributors are required to share their copyright with the MariaDB Foundation.
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MariaDB intends to maintain high compatibility with MySQL, ensuring a "drop-in" replacement capability with library binary equivalency and exact matching with MySQL APIs and commands. It includes the XtraDB storage engine for replacing InnoDB, as well as a new storage engine, Aria, that intends to be both a transactional and non-transactional engine perhaps even included in future versions of MySQL.
Its lead developer is Michael "Monty" Widenius, one of the founders of MySQL AB and the founder of Monty Program AB. On 16 January 2008, MySQL AB announced that it had agreed to be acquired by Sun Microsystems for approximately $1 billion. The acquisition completed on 26 February 2008. MariaDB is named after Monty's younger daughter Maria, similar to how MySQL is named after his other daughter My.
Versioning
MariaDB version numbers follow the MySQL's numbering scheme up to version 5.5. Thus, MariaDB 5.5 offers all of the MySQL 5.5 features. There exists a gap in MySQL versions between 5.1 and 5.5, while MariaDB issued 5.2 and 5.3 point releases.
After the 5.5 version, MariaDB developers decided to start a branch numbered 10, as an attempt to make it clear that MariaDB 10.0 will not import all features from MySQL 5.6; however, they might be imported in future versions. Since specific new features have been developed in MariaDB, the developers decided that a major version number change was necessary.
Third-party software
MariaDB's API and protocol are compatible with those used by MySQL, plus some features to support native non-blocking operations and progress reporting. This means that all connectors, libraries and applications which work with MySQL should also work on MariaDB—whether or not they support its native features. On this basis, Fedora developers replaced MySQL with MariaDB in Fedora 19, out of concerns that Oracle was making MySQL a more closed software project. OpenBSD likewise in April 2013 dropped MySQL for MariaDB 5.5.
MariaDB Foundation
In December 2012, Michael Widenius, David Axmark, and Allan Larsson announced the creation of a foundation that would oversee the development of MariaDB. In April 2013, the Foundation announced that it had appointed Simon Phipps as its Secretary and interim Chief Executive Officer, Rasmus Johansson as Chairman of the Board, and Andrew Katz, Jeremy Zawodny, and Michael Widenius as Board members. Noting that it wished to create a governance model similar to that used by the Eclipse Foundation, the Board appointed the Eclipse Foundation's Executive Director Mike Milinkovich as an advisor to lead the transition. Phipps quit in 2014 on the sale of the MariaDB trademark to SkySQL. He later said "I quit as soon as it was obvious the company was not going to allow an independent foundation."
SkySQL Corporation Ab, a company formed by ex-MySQL executives and investors after Oracle bought MySQL, announced in April 2013 that they were merging their company with Monty Program Ab, and joining the MariaDB Foundation. SkySQL's CEO Patrik Sallner would lead the new merged company, and Widenius was appointed as its CTO by the MariaDB Foundation.
On October 1, 2014, SkySQL Corporation Ab changed its name to MariaDB Corporation Ab to reflect its role as the main driving force behind the development of MariaDB server and the biggest support provider for it.
MariaDB is a registered trademark of MariaDB Corporation Ab, used under license by the MariaDB Foundation.
Support
Google has sent an engineer to the MariaDB Foundation. A group of investment companies led by Intel has invested $20 million in SkySQL.