paulruizendaal wrote:

>Despite the 10-year effort, MySQL does not have millions of
>customers. The latest info from MySQL marketing says they have 7,000
>customers; it might be 10K now, who pay over $5,000 on average for
>the honour. Half of the latest reported $40 mln in revenue may come
>from a few million-dollar customers.
>
>

Paul, by that reasoning, Firebird is a 22 year effort with zero
customers. My point is that many open source database systems are
thriving, receiving significant revenues, attracting major investment,
and paying competitive salaries to employees. And I'm arguing that
Firebird could too if it paid some attention to the basics.

>Moreover, considering that MySQL is weighted towards Linux (60..70%)
>and that Firebird is weighted towards Windows (70..80%), Firebird is
>actually *the market leader* on Windows.
>
>

My concern is the majority of Firebird users came from Delphi and
Interbase, both of which are officially on the block by Borland, and
both of which may blow away any day now. Without a steady stream of
Delphi developers, where is the growth?

>Jim, check your facts & do the math: FB/IB *is* the market leader on
>Windows. If you disagree, please provide the numbers showing that you
>are right, but please do not babble - it does not fit you.
>
>

You're looking backward; I'm looking forward. Companies are tripping
over themselves to give away free databases -- and most, if not all,
have documentation. Some are free as in beer, some as in liberty, but
none cost anything to kick or use. Without the stream of Delphi
refugees from Borland and a host of competitors with more approachable
products, Firebird has some real problems. As the other open source
database systems get their Window's acts in order (and they will),
things will get even worse.

>Although the points you make have merit, the facts are that FB is in
>a good position and gaining momentum. You and I both know that
>Firebird regularly wins over other databases in selection processes.
>You may not like that, but it does not change the facts.
>
>

That's rather cruel, Paul. I've been arguing that there are things
Firebird must do to continue to be successful, and being adopter
friendly is at the head of the list.

>Yes, the US is under-represented in FB development, but that is the
>same for almost all O/S projects. The epi-center of O/S tends to be
>in the EU, in LA, the FSU and China.
>
>

About half of MySQL developers are from the US. And most were recruited
from the community.

I don't know what to make of the dearth of US developers, just like I
don't understand why the only female developers in open source joined
the projects before they went open source (there's gotta one somewhere,
but neither Ann nor I have found her).

>Jim wrote:
>
>Ignore the details of MySQL economics ...
>
>Paul replies:
>
>Why? Is it easier to ignore the facts than to discuss them?
>
>
>

No, because I'm not at liberty to discuss them. But anyone can look at
them and see what they're doing and what works.

--

Jim Starkey, Senior Software Architect
MySQL AB, www.mysql.com
978 526-1376