Dear Oracle, we need to talk about the future of MySQL

Steven

Dear Oracle, we need to talk about the future of MySQL

Summary

A coalition of MySQL users and developers has published an open letter inviting Oracle to join plans for a vendor-neutral, nonprofit foundation to steward MySQL’s future. The initiative — which has gained roughly 100 signatures from companies and community figures at time of writing — aims to address declining community engagement and transparency under Oracle’s stewardship.

The letter lists core concerns: falling popularity and market share versus PostgreSQL, opaque development practices (private code drops and limited roadmap visibility), public tracking of security bugs without easy verification, perceived prioritisation of proprietary enterprise features and HeatWave, and an ageing developer base with few newcomers. The group argues an independent foundation would create a shared home for the ecosystem and help make MySQL more open and sustainable.

Vadim Tkachenko (speaking for the organisers) says Oracle has until the end of March to signal whether it will participate; if not, the group may proceed without Big Red. Percona co-founder Peter Zaitsev and other signatories want an independent body to hold Oracle accountable and to encourage a level playing field similar to PostgreSQL’s ecosystem. Oracle has recently promised a ‘new era’ for MySQL, but the community remains sceptical amid leadership churn and departures.

Key Points

  • Community open letter requests Oracle join an independent, vendor-neutral MySQL foundation to govern the project.
  • Signatories (≈100) cite transparency issues: private code drops, unclear roadmap and frustrating contribution processes.
  • Concerns include falling adoption compared with PostgreSQL and difficulty attracting new contributors and younger developers.
  • Security bug tracking and perceived prioritisation of proprietary enterprise features undermine trust in the Community Edition.
  • The group has given Oracle until the end of March to respond; it may proceed without Oracle if no meaningful engagement occurs.
  • Oracle has announced a renewed approach to MySQL, but community scepticism persists after staff departures and slow commit activity.

Why should I read this?

If you run, build on, or care about open-source databases, this one matters. The MySQL ecosystem is at a crossroads — either Oracle helps shape a more open, collaborative future, or the community will try to take stewardship into its own hands. Short version: if MySQL matters to you, keep an eye on this before things get messier.

Author style

Punchy: This is a timely, high-stakes intervention from people who depend on MySQL. The piece is short but important — it flags governance, transparency and competition issues that will affect deployments, contributions and vendor relationships going forward.

Context and relevance

The proposal sits at the intersection of broader industry trends: rising preference for PostgreSQL among new projects, increasing scrutiny of corporate stewardship of open-source projects, and the need for modern database features (for example, vector search for AI workloads). An independent foundation could restore confidence, encourage wider vendor participation, and help attract new contributors — all of which matter to organisations relying on MySQL for production systems.

Source

Source: https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/17/mysql_foundation_oracle_letter/