> The reason for MySQL's significance as a database was due to the
> hobbyist, and SOHO developer market seeing it as a way to avoid
> spending thousands of dollars on commercial database licensing. The
> Linux market championed it and bundles it as standard in distros.
> The non-Microsoft community want it because its not MS SQL. Etc.

There's one more reason: You can buy cheap wepspace that comes with
PHP and MySQL (at least here in Germany you can get that for a
handfull of Euros per month, everybody can afford that).

Why don't these webspace providers use Firebird? Because Firebird
doesn't have per-database security (they want to host lots of
independant customers on one machine) and because there is weak PHP
support for Firebird. Improving these two issues could help spread
Firebird *a lot*.

Best Regards

Stefan