MySQL community establishes independent foundation

OurSQL Foundation was formed by companies and developers in the MySQL ecosystem to align MySQL’s future with community needs and to collaborate more closely with Oracle. The initiative seeks greater transparency for MySQL users and developers, citing limited visibility into the technical roadmap and Oracle’s decisions on new features and releases. The foundation is intended to act as a central contact point for feedback, knowledge sharing, and collaboration across the broader ecosystem. The effort is also driven by concerns that MySQL’s popularity is declining relative to alternatives such as PostgreSQL, especially in developer and cloud-native environments. Oracle was invited to participate earlier in the year, and some foundation members already contribute code and engage in technical discussions with Oracle. The foundation brings together users, supporters, and developers, including cloud providers, consultants, and database solution vendors.

"A group of companies and developers from the MySQL ecosystem has established the OurSQL Foundation. The new organization aims to better align the future of the open-source database with the community while also collaborating more closely with Oracle, the owner of MySQL. The initiators argue that MySQL users and developers need greater transparency regarding the platform's development. According to them, there is currently too little insight into the technical roadmap and the decisions Oracle makes regarding new features and releases. The foundation is intended to serve as a central point of contact for feedback, knowledge sharing, and collaboration within the broader MySQL ecosystem."

"The initiative was prompted by concerns about MySQL's declining popularity relative to alternatives such as PostgreSQL. PostgreSQL has been gaining ground in recent years, particularly among developers and cloud-native projects. The foundation's founders fear that without stronger community involvement, MySQL could lose further market share. The Register reports that the initiators invited Oracle to participate earlier this year in plans for an independent foundation centered on MySQL. They emphasize that the initiative is not intended as opposition to Oracle, but rather as an effort to improve collaboration between the vendor and the community."

"According to Percona co-founder Peter Zaitsev, there are signs that Oracle has recently become more open to external developers and partners. Several members of the foundation are reportedly already actively collaborating with Oracle on code contributions and technical discussions. The foundation aims to play a neutral role within the ecosystem and bring together parties that use, support, or further develop MySQL. This includes not only developers but also cloud providers, consultants, and database solution vendors. Organizations involved include Percona, PlanetScale, PingCAP, VillageSQL, and Alibaba."

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