MySQL and Oracle Parallels

When I look at the current and future releases of MySQL I see a lot of parallels to Oracle releases. Although MySQL and Oracle have taken different approaches there is a thread of commonality.

• MySQL 4 and Oracle 6 releases were acceptable releases for their time but their features limited the software from having a larger impact in the database market. I always joke that Oracle Version 6 made Sybase and Oracle 7 along with Sybase 10 helped destroy Sybase.
• MySQL 5 and Oracle 7 took the database releases so they could take new large steps in the database market.
• MySQL 6 and Oracle 8 are releases that take the database software for each company to gigantic new levels in terms of scalability and the ability to handle significantly larger systems. In terms of performance, high availability and reduces administration.

I believe the future of MySQL with version 5 and the upcoming version 6 is very bright.