Product Lines
Ruminations on the System i Market
May 12, 2008
PostgreSQL: The Next Open-Source Friendly Giant?
MySQL is the most popular open-source database for PHP and other web applications. PostgreSQL is favored second but still lags behind MySQL in number of installations. However, many applications can use either database, and PostgreSQL's reputation for feature abundance, standards compliance, and bullet-proof dependability makes it a good choice for mission-critical development.
Last year IBM teamed with MySQL AB to support the open-source MySQL on i5/OS -- good news for System i developers who want to port PHP and other open-source applications. Sun's acquisition of MySQL AB early this year, however, complicates IBM's MySQL support because Sun competes directly with IBM for e-commerce and other server business.
IBM added pepper to the pot in late March by investing in EnterpriseDB, a PostgreSQL vendor (but not the owner of PostgreSQL development). The EnterpriseDB's Postgres Plus product line is a value-added package that combines the free PostgreSQL database with proprietary management tools and an interface to Oracle. If supported by IBM for its AIX and System i users, it could be an alternative to MySQL.
Although open-source fans are undoubtedly glad to see serious financial support for projects such as MySQL, it probably makes them nervous when a big player such as Sun steps in as owner of it all. With its popular Open Office project, its recent move to make Unix variant Solaris open, and its opening of source code for many Java components, Sun shines in open-source territory.
It can't hurt, though, to have another friendly giant with a free database on the landscape. IBM and PostgreSQL make a good combination and will keep Sun on its toes. If IBM fully integrates PostgreSQL with the native System i database engine, PostgreSQL will emerge as a robust, fully supported hardware package perfect for acute enterprise applications. System i will win by becoming a broader, more bewitching development platform leveraging its most important asset -- the firmware-integrated DB2 database.
Posted by vhamende at May 12, 2008 11:18 AM
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