MySQL powers countless databases and data-driven Web sites. MySQL 4, the latest release of the Open Source database, includes features that put it on par with products from database stalwarts Oracle and Microsoft. Unbelievable? Believe it.
MySQL has a lot in common with the Macintosh: both products grew out of their creators’ early vision and passion to become the great products they are today; both have begun to fill very visible roles in the Open Source world; both have been popping up more and more in corporate settings; and both have managed to generate communities of vocal and loyal supporters — communities that continue to grow and thrive.
But the most important and striking similarity between MySQL and the Mac boils down to the emotional response each product evokes. Few people who have used a Macintosh come away unimpressed — they either love the Mac or hate it. People have a similar reaction to MySQL. And recently, there has been more to love and less to hate about both of them (and with the advent of the Unix-based Mac OS X you can run MySQL on a Mac for the first time).
We first touched on MySQL 4.0 in the September 2002 LAMP Post column (available online at http://www.linux-mag.com/2002-09/lamp_01.html). As this is the beginning of a new year, let’s have a look at some of the great new features coming in MySQL 4.x. By the time you read this, MySQL 4.0 should be stable (or nearly so), and version 4.1 will be available for testing.
Getting MySQL
Pre-compiled MySQL binaries for Linux (available as RPMs and tarballs) are available from the MySQL web site at http://www.mysql.com/download.
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