@prefix rdf: . @prefix ns1: . @prefix foaf: . ns1:this rdf:type foaf:Person . @prefix atom: . rdf:type atom:Feed . @prefix sioct: . rdf:type sioct:Weblog . @prefix rdfs: . rdfs:label "kidehen@openlinksw.com's BLOG [127] description" ; rdf:type sioct:BlogPost , atom:Entry . @prefix dc: . dc:title "MySQL 4.1 Client Libraries go GPL" ; foaf:maker ns1:this ; rdfs:label "MySQL 4.1 Client Libraries go GPL" . @prefix dt: . @prefix dcterms: . dcterms:created "2004-01-07T23:26:20-05:00"^^dt:dateTime ; dcterms:modified "2006-06-22T08:56:58-04:00"^^dt:dateTime . @prefix sioc: . sioc:id "49e4d422816124586d8d98d9b65b86ce" ; sioc:link ; sioc:content "<blockquote dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">\n<p><a href="http://blog.bitflux.ch/p1626.html">MySQL and the GPL</a> Interesting read and thoughts and discussion about MySQL and &quot;their&quot; interpretation (backed by FSF) of the GPL on <a href="http://www.edwardbear.org/serendipity/archives/1193_My_Beef_with_MySQLs_License.html">Sterling&#39;s Blog</a> </p></blockquote>\n<div align="right">[via <a href="http://blog.bitflux.ch/">Bitflux Blog</a>]</div>\n<div align="left">\u00A0</div>\n<div align="left">Well it looks like the guys at MySQL AB have made a very bad move re. the MySQL 4.1 client libraries. They have made these\u00A0libraries GPL as opposed to LGPL (these license format of the prior library releases), which simply means that any application that uses these libraries is now a &quot;derivative work&quot; and basically required to unveil source.</div>\n<div align="left">\u00A0</div>\n<div align="left">I wonder how the tons of LAMP users and developers\u00A0feel right now, a change of this magnitude in mid-stream! Nice way to treat a community that has built itself around MySQL&#39;s LGPL Client Libraries</div>\n<div align="left">\u00A0</div>\n<div align="left">A few years ago\u00A0I had to rescue the <a href="http://www.iodbc.org">iODBC (Independent ODBC) SDK project </a>from the hands of <a href="http://www.fsf.org">FSF</a> (Free Software Foundation), and this was done solely to prevent what MySQL and FSF are attempting to pull off (FSF had a clear\u00A0understanding of the inherent importance of data that is not necessarily comprehended by LAMP, or the broader industry). </div>\n<blockquote dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">\n<div align="left"><em>Unfortunately I couldn&#39;t locate the Kingsley Idehen vs. Richard Stallman FreeODBC mailing list debate archive re. iODBC anywhere on the net, so this </em><a href="http://udell.roninhouse.com/bytecols/1999-11-03.html"><em>interview link </em></a><em>will have to suffice).</em></div></blockquote>\n<div align="left">Ironically MySQL as opposed to iODBC|ODBC|unixODBC has come to instinctively define data access in the LAMP world, and in doing so the very essence of the ODBC value proposition has been somewhat lost.</div>\n<div align="left">\u00A0</div>\n<div align="left">Recap:</div>\n<div align="left">ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) is an API (Application Programming Interface) that enables database independent application development. <a href="http://www.iodbc.org/index.php?page=docs/odbcstory#walkthrough">Its implementation architecture</a> enables Applications to bind to a Driver Manager which in turn loads ODBC Drivers. Now, initially this doesn&#39;t look like a big deal, but it is, and the situation re. MySQL 4.1 illustrates the benefit of this architecture by protecting LAMP users and developers from the GPL&#39;d 4.1 Client Libraries since MySQL is accessible via ODBC. <br /></div>\n<blockquote dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">\n<div align="left"><em>note: ODBC Driver developers that use the 4.1 client libraries are &quot;derivative work&quot; and they will have to release source code which means we won&#39;t be updating our MySQL ODBC Drivers\u00A0because we won&#39;t be forced into release the source code of our ODBC Drivers.</em></div></blockquote>\n<div align="left">\u00A0</div>\n<div align="left">LAMP applications that are bound to iODBC|unixODBC|Microsoft ODBC will not be exposed to this stunt by FSF and MySQL AB. Why? Because an ODBC based LAMP solution isn&#39;t touching those MySQL 4.1 client libraries!</div>\n<div align="left">\u00A0</div>\n<div align="left">Now if you think that you are stumped simply because you went\u00A0innocently down the LAMP path\u00A0by buying\u00A0into the &quot;MySQL data access is good enough\u00A0perception&quot;, and now find yourself over invested in MySQL specific code (that is data access code bound directly to the MySQL client libraries), please don&#39;t worry! There is an <a href="http://www.iodbc.org/index.php?page=mysql2odbc/index">Open Source solution called MySQL2ODBC</a> that is based on the pre 4.1 MySQL client libraries that enables your MySQL specific application (which is typical of LAMP solutions) to become iODBC compliant, and this is achieved without a wholesale rewrite of your application. </div>\n<div align="left">\u00A0</div>\n<div align="left">I have been an ardent ODBC supporter since its inception simply because data is timelessly important, and ODBC provides a critical solution for separating application logic from data repositories.\u00A0\u00A0There is a lot of SQL data driving mission critical business applications globally, and failure to comprehend ODBC&#39;s value proposition ultimately results in loss of control over Data, which is the foundation from which Information and Knowledge are derived.</div>\n<div align="left">\u00A0</div>\n<div align="left">You should never find yourself locked into any database vendor, programming language vendor, operating system vendor, or business application vendor, simply becuase you want exploit your own data. </div>\n<div align="left">\u00A0</div>\n<div align="left">Ironically the statement above is for the most part the real reason why ODBC has such a bad wrap!</div>\n<div align="left">\u00A0</div>\n<div align="left">\u00A0</div>" ; atom:title "MySQL 4.1 Client Libraries go GPL" . @prefix ns10: . sioc:has_creator ns10:this ; sioc:has_container ; sioc:links_to . @prefix ns11: . sioc:links_to ns11:walkthrough . @prefix ns12: . sioc:links_to ns12:index , , , , , ; atom:source ; atom:author ns1:this ; atom:published "2004-01-08T04:26:20Z" ; atom:updated "2006-06-22T12:56:58Z" . @prefix opl: . opl:isDescribedUsing . ns10:this rdf:type sioc:User .@prefix rdf: . @prefix ns1: . @prefix foaf: . ns1:this rdf:type foaf:Person ; foaf:made . @prefix atom: . rdf:type atom:Feed . @prefix sioct: . rdf:type sioct:Weblog . @prefix rdfs: . rdfs:label "kidehen@openlinksw.com's BLOG [127] description" . @prefix sioc: . sioc:container_of ; atom:entry ; atom:contains . @prefix ns7: . ns7:this rdf:type sioc:User ; sioc:creator_of .