As you might noticed there are no recent MySQL Community versions available for download from MySQL Download Area This applies both to binaries (which is expected with new polices) but also to the source files which were promised to be available.
So what is if you would like to use recent MySQL code while staying with community version ? I chatted with Monty on this topic today.
Download sources from MySQL FTP Site I have no idea why this location is not advertised on download pages but it really has sources for all recent releases, both for Unix and Windows.
Use MySQL Supplied by Distribution Vendor. Some vendors already offering MySQL 5.0.30 – Gentoo, Ubuntu and Debian at the time of this writing. Fedora might also get update soon.
Use Bitkeeper Tree If you would like absolutely recent version this is a way to go. The address for MySQL 5.0 is
bk://mysql.bkbits.net/mysql-5.0 (HowTo Docs) Note version you find where is untested and might be broken so be careful. In theory you can also pull all previous releases by their tags but in practice it requires licensed BitKeeper version which few people have access to.
What is about free MySQL Enterprise Version ? Well at the time of this writing as far as I know source tree for Enterprise and Community version is the same so there is no difference. Once split will really happen we’ll see if it would be available.
What is about Binaries ? As I mentioned some Linux distributions already include up to date MySQL versions, this obviously means binaries are available as well. If you’re using other Linux distribution, other Unix or Windows operation system you should ether build one yourself, find binaries from truster third party or hire someone, (for example us) to build ones for you.
I think this binary-hiding, do-it-yourself approach is kind of not-so-nice move by MySQL (the company) to make more users pay for their “open source” software. I guess after some time, there will be an alternative source to precompiled binaries, and so, they’ll loose some credit (along with some users), but gain money, of course.
Who is the moron behind this decision?
Perhaps time to look into postgre when the board of mysql starts to act like they were on acid or something :/
This whole Enterprise – Community split really worries me. MySql (the company) will surely use subtle differences over time to force us into the Enterprise version. It feels rather evil…
mySQL has taken a lot of money from various sources. They need to show now that they can make money. The cost for them to fly developers across the globe, host user conferences, pay the salaries of these developers/support crew has to come from some place. These investors are not going to foot the bill forever. If you want a stable blessed build that will not corrupt your data, or have the ability to blame mySQL for data problems from builds pay for the service else do it yourself.
s/The cost/The money/
I see this post is getting some links. Someone has posted it to Digg: http://digg.com/linux_unix/MySQL_no_more_provides_binaries_to_the_users/
Also for Russian speaking users there is discussion at Linux.org.ru
http://www.linux.org.ru/view-message.jsp?msgid=1721798
Some people brought to my attention this link:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/news.html
As you can see MySQL 5.0.27 is the last version which is mentioned. So for general user which will just visit download area plus may be changelog in the manual there is no easy way to see the new version even exists.
I do not think this is good even for quality purposes – this means much fewer people will test recent versions and paying Enterprise users will actually be beta testers.
The great example is fix for Innodb Scalability which is included in MySQL 5.0.30 – this is quite significant change which was given to Enterprise customer but not widely circulated in community to test it out. Some people report problems with this patch.
Just wanted to clarify my point. I’m not saying MySQL Must provide community with recent Binaries or even Sources.
MySQL unlike RedHat for example owns (together with partners like Innobase/Oracle) all MySQL Codebase so they are free to stop releasing new versions under GPL at any time, or as many other “OpenSource” companies have some features only in commercial version.
So the fact Community/Non paying users are getting anything at all from MySQL can be considered expression of their good will.
For many people this however feel sad because of their own assumptions as they assumed things would be as they were for years – MySQL would provide stable binaries with all new features to community and community will “pay” for that by reporting bug fixes and doing marketing for MySQL.
No MySQL decided to change this balance and say we will not provide community with binaries any more and this is there MySQL is fully in control and Community just has to accept that and live with it.
I also reread announcement of Community/Enterprise split: http://www.planetmysql.org/kaj/?p=64 and now can see it is kind of in line with what we’re seeing right now:
The tree was not split yet so Enterprise is same as Community but with more frequent release cycle.
Now we’re promised more frequent Enterprise build and this is what 5.0.28 and 5.0.30 build were. These were not community builds so sources for them were promised to be made available only for paying Enterprise customers.
At the same time it is interesting to see free distributions such as Debian to include MySQL 5.0.30 which is only “Enterprise” – will it continue to be the case when Enterprise/Community will become different code bases or would distributions be forced to ship community version ?
Dathan,
Surely this change is for MySQL to make more money. Regarding your other comments – this was similar way for the long time. Ether you grab the binary and you’re on your own or you purchase “MySQL Network”, Professional Services or Support and have MySQL to take care of your problems.
If you look at it long term MySQL is constantly trying to increase the leverage by having larger number of users to pay more (this is perfectly valid as MySQL is commercial company not a charity). Years ago you could get access to Monty for 250$/year, later support changed to be more expensive and was limited by number of contacts company could be using for the same contracts, as far as I remember there was yet another price raise after that followed by “MySQL Network” which moved from per contact pricing to per server pricing (and Per CPU pricing for MySQL Cluster) and finally now with Enterprise version you’re basically advised to buy binaries even if you do not really need support. What would be the next step ?
P.S I’m MySQL Shareholder myself so I have no problems with MySQL being more profitable from my own financial interest stand point. As MySQL Consulting Business owner I do not have problems ether as the more complicated it becomes for the customers to deal with MySQL Company itself the more business I get 🙂
Regarding ChangeLogs – The MySQL Enterprise changelogs are available as well:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/releasenotes-es.html
I would however appreciate if link would be made from standard manual location which people have habit to visit to check about updates to the Enterprise version change log
Looks like it is time to fork =)
Open source != free
People who think open source always equates to free haven’t seem the bill yet. For years, someone else has been paying for MySQL. Now it’s time for the users to pony-up.
Certainly there’s “free” open source software, much of it is very good. But a complex piece of software like MySQL with it continued development and support can’t be free unless you want the developers living in your basement.
obfuscation in the interest of the almighty dollar is a lousy attitude for an OSS company. fortunately I can ignore mySQL, as postgres works just fine.
eh, you are welcome to PostgreSQL 😀 😀
Hi,
I’m working on changing the server at bkbits.net so that you can clone any version, not just the head. I’ll report back when we get that done.
–lm
What are you smoking? There are binaries listed right here “Linux (non RPM, Intel C/C++ compiled, glibc-2.3) downloads” http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/5.0.html#downloads
And by the way, if those weren’t available you can get an RPM so wtf is the matter with that?
1. Go to mysql.com
2. Click on ‘Downloads’
3. Select ‘Community’
4. Download the source or binary of you choice. Binaries are provided for Windoz and OSX (didn’t check others). RPMs are available as well.
Am I missing the point? What’s being hidden?
Looks like a lot of people will move towards postgres, this will obviously make the postgres more stable and robust, and mysql will lose its community base. I work in an oracle shop and frankly if Im going to pay for a DB, its not going to be a closed MySQL… the whole advantage MySQL had was community review and if you limit that to just enterprise customers, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. This is a lame move by the MySQL team. Im obviously not opposed to them making more money, but I am opposed to them forgetting about all the people that have been using their product for years and years (paying or not).
Thank you Larry,
Does it mean one will be able to get any MySQL version with free BitKeeper not only commercial one ?
Jim
We are speaking about RECENT version.
If you’d go to
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/releasenotes-es.html
you saw
E.1.3. Release Notes for MySQL Enterprise 5.0.30 (14 November 2006)
E.1.4. Release Notes for MySQL Enterprise 5.0.28 (24 October 2006)
That is version 5.0.28 was released 24 October 2006
and 5.0.30 was released 14 November 2006
If you
1. Go to mysql.com
2. Click on ‘Downloads’
3. Select ‘Community’
you see only 5.0.27 binaries and sources.
No links to 5.0.28 & 5.0.30 anywhere on site.
Hi Peter,
yes, anyone will be able to get any version of the mysql tree with the free client.
–lm
Too bad. A very very significant loss to we small independent users.
You know what’s funny, is that MySQL used to tell people they should only use the MySQL precompiled binaries because they were more stable. Now they’re not offering precompiled binaries. Strange..
Ok. I have just migrated 50 of my and my clients’ databases from mysql to postgresql. Simple stuff since i use a database abstraction layer. Mysql, you blew it.
Is there or will there be a http://www.postgreperformanceblog.com? 🙂
Are you guys serious?! I’m a developer so it’s no problem for me. But this move has probably made it so much harder for non-developers to get started. Definitely a step backwards, in my opinion.
Joe,
I agree with you. More than that MySQL was requesting users to repeat bugs with their binaries before really accepting them to reduce bugs team load now it turns around and bugs team will need to deal with 10 differently built binaries by distribution vendors plus huge number of self build binaries.
I’m basically a web user, so MySQL is just another tool for me while I use it to store database over the Internet. All I need is something that’s efficient and works well.
IMHO this is the worst move, MySQL could do at this moment!
There are some really excellent alternative RDBMS out there, including community (free) editions of really excellent databases from the “big players”.
So, MySQL will not only lose users (aka “potential customers for commercial licenses & support”), but also will not force anyone into its commercial context (since trust is one of the basics for a long term business relationship, something the other “free commercial” RDBMS also lack) …
Michael
Actually Peter, and his consulting company could gain a lot of fame (and customers) if it starts to provide “well made” binaries for free. Not much work I guess if you have the experience, but a lot of atreaction. If you don’t do it, you’ll be just one of many consulting firms, getting some plus work from MySQL’s bad-move, but this way, you could get a lot more. I guess…
Soon, someone will compile the source and provide the binaries for free download. That’s the way how it usually goes…:))
Has anyone built a recent OSX binary yet?
So, what does this mean for those of us who aren’t MySQL Enterprise customers but like the speed boost we get from ICC built binaries, we have to wait months for bug fixes, or hope someone with access to the ICC compiler starts doing community builds?
Thank you for all the good comments on this blog posting. What we are trying to do at MySQL AB is serve two fairly distinct user groups: our community of millions of non-paying users (who, as many of you, provide us with bug repors, bug fixes and contributions), and our base of thousands of paying customers. That’s why we have the MySQL Community Server and MySQL Enterprise.
We want to be the leading DBMS for both of these groups. We are not funded by government grants or donations, so whatever we do (in the community or commercially), we must cover the costs with the money we get from paying customers. Over the last 6 years we are pretty proud to have been able to grow our output of free and open source software significantly thanks to the fact that we have paying customers.
Open source business models are still evolving, and we are thankful for your input. So please help us in defining what the best method is – for producing new releases, for producing binaries, for working with our community, for being the leaders in modern database management. Feel free to post your suggestions on this or other blogs, or email me directly (firstname at mysql dot com). My colleagues will also be posting more specific responses to the issues you raise above.
Thanks and kind regards,
Marten Mickos
CEO, MySQL AB
Couldn’t it just be a case of them having an unstable minor release out that they’d rather not share with general public since they’re aware of major issues with them and didn’t want to ruin their reputation with them?
From what I recall, they’ve been trying to get some serious stuff done (I don’t recall where I got that info from – information overload situation here).
I say they could’ve got them available on the ftp site so that developers can help em out (one of the raisons d’être of OSS) without running the risk of the unsuspecting user deciding to “upgrade” to the latest and greatest version and getting a buggy or broken version.
42: According to the mysql license you would need a commercial license if you want to do that.
Apachez – why would you need MySQL license to do so ? If source is released under GPL everyone could build binaries. CentOS for example does so for RHEL sources. Furthermore as I understand MySQL even welcomes or at least does not forbid it – Debian, Gentoo etc provide 5.0.30 at this point.
In the future once Enterprise and Community source tree will be different we may see something different here – I do not know if MySQL will provide Enterprise MySQL version sources to free distributions or ask them to only ship community version. Announcement from Kaj which I already quoted says sources will be only available to paying customers not general public (with customers welcome to distribute them though as it is GPL)
45: Kyle you can build your own binaries with ICC no problems here or there could be someone to build ICC binaries from community… we shall see. I suspect however GCC binaries will have better availability 🙂
Marten,
Thank you for taking a look at this. I trust you give people feedback a though and have good solution which will suite everyone.
49: Well you are not by the license allowed to put a copy of mysql on your cd with your application who uses mysql as backend (unless you get a commercial license), and the cd is just a form of distribution. I guess the same would apply to putting a compiled version available from your homepage.
MySQL AB has obviously weighed all the options and they have chosen the one that they think will be the best solution. Only time will tell if this has been a wise decision. Unfortunately the ripple effect will not take place for quite some time.
IMHO MySQL AB has made a mistake. It will be against MySQL AB’s best interest to continue to make more mistakes by separating the sources. Their recent changes have already caused a backlash and separating the sources would be the final straw for the community. MySQL is only as large as it is because of the user base. PostgreSQL has been around for many years with speed and functionality that MySQL is still attempting to achieve. Without the community MySQL would have never grown to the size it is today. This is something MySQL AB boasts proudly.
I am outlining the following scenarios which I have led me to my decisions.
Positive Scenarios:
More consumers will buy products from MySQL AB. MySQL will gain more money, grow the product, and grow the user base.
Negative Scenarios:
Users will disagree with the change and migrate to another RDMBS (PostgreSQL). MySQL will lose money and users.
Users will not pay and continue to run old software and find many bugs that they simply cannot wait 6 months for, and they will migrate away. MySQL will lose money and users.
Users will compile themselves, bugs will be found that are due to compiling, developers will run in circles chasing ghost bugs, if they choose to support them, which as Peter brought up, they would not previously. MySQL AB will lose money and users.
Users who purchase MySQL Enterprise and other high end MySQL AB products will receive a less stable, less tested product and will be unsatisfied with MySQL AB and migrate to another RDBMS. MySQL will lose money and users.
PostgreSQL will gain a larger community, product will continue to develop further, gain financing, and high end users. MySQL will lose users and money.
Nickg, check out the Quarterly Service Pack Enterprise builds if you want a less frequent change schedule. Or you can use the monthly Rapid Update Service Pack Enterprise releases that Peter has been talking about (5.0.28 and 5.0.30) if you want the most rapid fix schedule instead.
The MySQL Support team is well aware of recently fixed bugs and tends not to run around in circles chasing fixed bugs. That’s also unnecessary, since anyone with a support contract can get the Enterprise builds. Hopefully Peter didn’t say that MySQL Support won’t support the older versions because that wasn’t the practice when he worked in Support and hasn’t been the practice since he left, though it was wrongly written that way in one of the documents on the web site until that was fixed. What is actually the case is that if we think the problem is due to an old bug, we’ll ask people to upgrade to prove it.
Peter, the last Community release of 5.0 was on 21 October 2006. That’s a little over two months ago. Two months is pretty recent by most definitions of recent. It’s not even unusually longer than normal for a community release. Previous releases have regularly featured gaps of two to two and a half months (5.0.24 to 5.0.24a and 5.0.22 to 5.0.24, 5.0.18 to 5.0.19). Recent 4.1 community builds have seen longer gaps than that, like the 4 month gap between 4.1.18 and 4.1.19 and a bit longer between 4.1.21 and 4.1.22.
What is really visible so far is the increase in service for those who have Enterprise subscriptions, with more frequent and predictable builds.
There will be some decrease in MySQL’s own Community build release schedule, even though at this point in time it’s no longer than those we’ve commonly seen in the past. I expect that Kaj will say more soon enough. As you’ve noticed, though, even more recent builds are available from a number of other places.
Apachez,
In fact you can place a copy of MySQL on CD with your application which uses it, and you do not need commercial version to do so. The only restriction your application should also be GPL (or some other OSS licenses) 🙂
It does not work for most of commercial applications though.
James,
You’re not factual about MySQL 5.0 community updates:
G.1.1. Changes in release 5.0.27 (21 October 2006)
G.1.2. Changes in release 5.0.26 (03 October 2006)
G.1.3. Changes in release 5.0.25 (15 September 2006)
G.1.4. Changes in release 5.0.24a (25 August 2006)
G.1.5. Changes in release 5.0.24 (27 July 2006)
So before MySQL Enterprise/Community split MySQL 5.0 Community binaries were released more frequently than one month ago.
So what you put as providing more value to Enterprise Customers is in fact also providing less value to Community.
That is OK but please be honest about it – saying we think we give away too much and need to charge for some of things which were previously free to make money is fine. I’m not saying there is no extra value in Enterprise version which did not exist in community version though.
Now regarding what is recent – it is about of bugs fixes what defines how recent release it. Take a look at MySQL 5.0.30 changelog and you’ll see what I mean. Not to mention very serious Innodb scalability bug which was improved in this version.
Peter, all of you,
At http://www.planetmysql.org/kaj/?p=82 under the header “MySQL Community Server recap”, I have addressed some of the concerns brought up in this thread. The shortened form is:
1. MySQL 5.0 Community Server sources and binaries are available from our download pages.
2. MySQL Enterprise Server is released more frequently than MySQL Community Server.
3. MySQL Community Server gets all bug fixes from MySQL Enterprise Server.
4. The higher release frequency of MySQL Enterprise Server provides added value for our commercial customers.
5. MySQL Community Server additionally includes what we call Community Enhancements on top of MySQL Enterprise Server.
6. MySQL Enterprise Server is available in source form for download from our ftp server at http://ftp.mysql.com.
7. The MySQL Community Server tree is updated frequently with the bug fixes from the Enterprise tree.
To put it even more concisely:
(i) Providing and verifying binaries is a paid-for service for those who want to spent money to save time.
(ii) We know we need to improve the release frequency of source tarballs from the Community Tree.
(iii) We know we need to improve the speed by which we apply community patches to our Community Tree.
Kaj Arnö
VP Community Relations
MySQL AB
Thank you Kaj,
Are you saying now Enterprise Server sources will be available on FTP for everyone not only for paying customers (as if I remember correctly original policy release was saying) ?
If that is the case it is good.
I still would hope information of sources availability would be circulated widely (ie mentioned on Community download pages) but I can see you not doing it for sales reasons.
It was decided from the very beginning that the Enterprise Server sources will be publicly available. So they not only *will* be available from http://ftp.mysql.com, they already are and have always been.
Bye,
LenZ
Yes right Lenz,
As I mentioned in my posts the sources are available. I would however think about having it circulated more widely.
Many people written to me they thought there are no releases available post .27 and so they can’t for example get Innodb performance fixes, before they saw my post which directs to MySQL 5.0.30 source location.
Question: Will there be RPM specs or something similar available as well ? I know there are number of Distributions which build MySQL themselves – I would guess you would want them to build it as standard way as possible for many reasons.
Yes, the generic RPM spec file is included in the source tarball.
Kaj,
1) Where can I find what exactly those “community patches” you refering to mean/contains? Ie, what is being added to the enterprise source for 5.0.30 before it becomes a “community source” (or the other way around, what will I miss if I download and compile enterprise 5.0.30 on my own)?
2) The problem is not that the source is available through some dir on the ftp server at mysql.com (point 6 in your comments), the problem is that mysql tries to hide this on the download pages. When I go to the download pages there is not a single word that a more recent release version might exist in a dir on the ftp. If mysql were more open about this then this split of enterprise vs community wouldnt have been such issue as it has turned out to be today.