MariaDB

MariaDB

Developer(s)	MariaDB Corporation Ab, MariaDB Foundation
Initial release	22 January 2009
Stable release	10.1.13 (March 25, 2016[1]) [±]
Written in	C, C++, Perl, Bash
Operating system	Cross-platform (Unix, Windows, Solaris, Linux, OS X, BSD)[2]
Available in	English
Type	RDBMS
License	GNU General Public License (version 2), GNU Lesser General Public License (for client-libraries)[3]
Website	mariadb.org mariadb.com

MariaDB is a community-developed fork of the MySQL relational database management system intended to remain free under the GNU GPL. It is notable for being led by the original developers of MySQL, who forked it due to concerns over its acquisition by Oracle.^[4] Contributors are required to share their copyright with the MariaDB Foundation.^[5]

MariaDB intends to maintain high compatibility with MySQL, ensuring a "drop-in" replacement capability with library binary equivalency and exact matching with MySQL APIs and commands.^[6] It includes the XtraDB storage engine for replacing InnoDB,^[7] as well as a new storage engine, Aria, that intends to be both a transactional and non-transactional engine perhaps even included in future versions of MySQL.^[8]

Its lead developer is Michael "Monty" Widenius, one of the founders of MySQL AB and the founder of Monty Program AB. On 16 January 2008, MySQL AB announced that it had agreed to be acquired by Sun Microsystems for approximately $1 billion. The acquisition completed on 26 February 2008. MariaDB is named after Monty's younger daughter Maria, similar to how MySQL is named after his other daughter My.^[9]

Versioning

MariaDB version numbers follow the MySQL's numbering scheme up to version 5.5. Thus, MariaDB 5.5 offers all of the MySQL 5.5 features. There exists a gap in MySQL versions between 5.1 and 5.5, while MariaDB issued 5.2 and 5.3 point releases.

After the 5.5 version, MariaDB developers decided to start a branch numbered 10, as an attempt to make it clear that MariaDB 10.0 will not import all features from MySQL 5.6; however, they might be imported in future versions. Since specific new features have been developed in MariaDB, the developers decided that a major version number change was necessary.^[10][11]

Version	Original release date	Latest version	Release date	Status
Old version, no longer supported: 5.1	2009-10-29[12]	5.1.67	2013-01-30[13]	Stable (GA)
Old version, no longer supported: 5.2	2010-04-10[14]	5.2.14	2013-01-30[15]	Stable (GA)
Older version, yet still supported: 5.3	2011-07-26[16]	5.3.12	2013-01-30[17]	Stable (GA)
Older version, yet still supported: 5.5	2012-02-25[18]	5.5.49	2016-04-22[19]	Stable (GA)
Older version, yet still supported: 10.0	2012-11-12[20]	10.0.25	2016-04-30[21]	Stable (GA)
Current stable version: 10.1	2014-06-30[22]	10.1.13	2016-03-25[23]	Stable (GA)
Latest preview version of a future release: 10.2	2016-04-18[24]	10.2.0	2016-04-18[25]	Alpha
Legend: Old version Older version, still supported Latest version Latest preview version Future release

Third-party software

MariaDB's API and protocol are compatible with those used by MySQL, plus some features to support native non-blocking operations and progress reporting. This means that all connectors, libraries and applications which work with MySQL should also work on MariaDB—whether or not they support its native features. On this basis, Fedora developers replaced MySQL with MariaDB in Fedora 19, out of concerns that Oracle is making MySQL a more closed software project.^[26]

Clients

Here is a list of tools that are known to work properly with MariaDB:

• Database Workbench – a software application for development and administration of multiple relational databases including MySQL, with interoperationality between different database systems.
• DBEdit – a free administration application for MariaDB and other databases.
• HeidiSQL – a free and open source client for MySQL on Windows. It supports MariaDB specific features like Virtual Columns, and is included with the Windows MSI package of MariaDB beginning with the 5.2.7 release.^[27][28]
• Navicat – a series of proprietary database management applications for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
• phpMyAdmin – a web-based database management application for MySQL.
• SQLyog – a database management application on Windows, Linux.

Web Applications

The following web applications officially support MariaDB:^[29]

• Drupal
• ERP5
• Kajona
• MediaWiki
• Moodle
• MONyog
• ownCloud
• Plone
• WordPress
• Yii Framework
• Zend Framework

Application bundles

The popular application bundle XAMPP switched to MariaDB in October 2015.

Distribution Support

These distributions default to including MariaDB:

• Fedora >= 19^[30]
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux >= 7 (including derivatives, such as CentOS, Scientific Linux)^[31][32]
• Oracle Linux >= 7 (this is notable because Oracle publishes MySQL, but their binary compatibility promise requires defaulting to MariaDB, although MySQL is also available^[33])

MariaDB Foundation

In December 2012, Michael Widenius, David Axmark, and Allan Larsson announced the creation of a foundation that would oversee the development of MariaDB.^[34][35] In April 2013, the Foundation announced that it had appointed Simon Phipps as its Secretary and interim Chief Executive Officer, Rasmus Johansson as Chairman of the Board, and Andrew Katz, Jeremy Zawodny, and Michael Widenius as Board members.^[36] Noting that it wished to create a governance model similar to that used by the Eclipse Foundation, the Board appointed the Eclipse Foundation's Executive Director Mike Milinkovich as an advisor to lead the transition.^[36]

SkySQL Corporation Ab, a company formed by ex-MySQL executives and investors after Oracle bought MySQL, announced in April 2013 that they were merging their company with Monty Program Ab, and joining the MariaDB Foundation. SkySQL's CEO Patrik Sallner would lead the new merged company, and Widenius was appointed as its CTO by the MariaDB Foundation.^[37]

On October 1, 2014, SkySQL Corporation Ab changed its name to MariaDB Corporation Ab^[38] to reflect its role as the main driving force behind the development of MariaDB server and the biggest support provider for it.^[39]

MariaDB is a registered trademark of MariaDB Corporation Ab,^[40] used under license by the MariaDB Foundation.^[41]

Prominent users

• LAMP stack
• Arch Linux^[42]
• Chakra Linux^[43]
• Fedora (from Fedora 19)^[44]
• Gentoo Linux^[45]
• Google^[46]
• Mozilla^[47]
• NetSuite OpenAir^[48]
• OpenBSD^[49][50] (from 5.7)
• openSUSE (from openSUSE 12.3)^[51]
• Oracle Linux (from 7)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (from RHEL 7)^[52]
• Slackware^[53]
• Wikimedia Foundation^[54]
• SaltOS^[55]
• Web Of Trust^[56]
• WPN-XM^[57]
• Zimbra (from 8.5)^[58]

Support

Google has sent an engineer to the MariaDB Foundation.^[59] A group of investment companies, including Intel, has invested $20 million in SkySQL.^[60]

See also

• Comparison of relational database management systems

References

1. Bartholomew, Daniel (2016-03-25). "MariaDB 10.1.13 and Connector/J 1.3.7 now available". MariaDB.org. MariaDB Foundation. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
2. "MariaDB 10.0.20 Stable". Retrieved 18 June 2015.
3. "MariaDB licenses".
4. "Dead database walking: MySQL's creator on why the future belongs to MariaDB - MariaDB, open source, mysql, Oracle". Computerworld. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
5. "Contributing Code". MariaDB KnowledgeBase. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
6. "MariaDB versus MySQL - Compatibility". MariaDB KnowledgeBase. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
7. "About XtraDB". MariaDB KnowledgeBase. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
8. "Aria FAQ". MariaDB KnowledgeBase. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
9. "Why is the project called MariaDB?". MariaDB KnowledgeBase. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
10. rasmus (2012-08-13). "Explanation on MariaDB 10.0 « The MariaDB Blog". Blog.mariadb.org. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
11. "What comes in between MariaDB now and MySQL 5.6? « The MariaDB Blog". Blog.mariadb.org. 2012-05-28. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
12. "MariaDB 5.1.38 Release Notes". Retrieved 2015-09-21.
13. "MariaDB 5.1.67 Release Notes". Retrieved 2015-09-21.
14. "MariaDB 5.2.0 Release Notes". Retrieved 2015-09-21.
15. "MariaDB 5.2.14 Release Notes". Retrieved 2015-09-21.
16. "MariaDB 5.3.0 Release Notes". Retrieved 2015-09-21.
17. "MariaDB 5.3.12 Release Notes". Retrieved 2015-09-21.
18. "MariaDB 5.5.20 Release Notes". Retrieved 2015-09-21.
19. "MariaDB 5.5.49 Release Notes". Retrieved 2016-04-25.
20. "MariaDB 10.0.0 Release Notes". Retrieved 2015-09-21.
21. "MariaDB 10.0.25 Release Notes". Retrieved 2016-05-02.
22. "MariaDB 10.1.0 Release Notes". Retrieved 2015-09-21.
23. Bartholomew, Daniel (2016-03-25). "MariaDB 10.1.13 and Connector/J 1.3.7 now available". MariaDB.org. MariaDB Foundation. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
24. "MariaDB 10.2.0 Release Notes". Retrieved 2016-04-18.
25. "MariaDB 10.2.0 Release Notes". Retrieved 2016-04-18.
26. "Features / Replace MySQL with MariaDB". Retrieved 17 September 2014.
27. "MariaDB 5.2.7 shipped with HeidiSQL". Heidisql.com. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
28. MariaDB 5.2.7 released!, Monty Program Group Blog
29. "Works With MariaDB - MariaDB Knowledge Base". Kb.askmonty.org. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
30. "Features / Replace MySQL with MariaDB". Retrieved 17 September 2014.
31. "RHEL7 & the transition from MySQL to MariaDB: A first look.". mariadb.com. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
32. "Chapter 17. Web Servers and Services". Red Hat. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
33. "Oracle Linux 7.1 and MySQL 5.6". blogs.oracle.com. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
34. rasmus (2012-12-04). "MariaDB Foundation to Safeguard Leading Open Source Database « The MariaDB Blog". Blog.mariadb.org. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
35. "1 million euros pledged to new MariaDB Foundation - The H Open: News and Features". H-online.com. 2012-12-04. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
36. "MariaDB Foundation on course for community governance". The H. 2013-04-18. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013.
37. "SkySQL merges with Monty Program to unite MariaDB developers". The H. 2013-04-23. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013.
38. "SkySQL to become MariaDB Corporation". mariadb.com. MariaDB Corporation. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
39. Widenius, Monty. "Why SkySQL becoming MariaDB Corporation will be good for the MariaDB Foundation". MariaDB Foundation Blog. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
40. "MariaDB Trademarks". mariadb.com.
41. "MariaDB Trademark". mariadb.org.
42. https://www.archlinux.org/news/mariadb-replaces-mysql-in-repositories/ Arch Linux News - 25 March 2013 MariaDB replaces MySQL in repositories
43. "The Chakra Project - Get". Chakra-linux.org. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
44. "Oracle who? Fedora & openSUSE will replace MySQL with MariaDB". ZDNet. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
45. "Distributions Which Include MariaDB".'
46. "The Register 12 September 2013 Google swaps out MySQL, moves to MariaDB'".'
47. "MySQL 5.1 vs. MySQL 5.5: Floats, Doubles, and Scientific Notation". Mozilla IT. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
48. "NetSuite OpenAir Enhancements April 16, 2016". NetSuite OpenAir. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
49. "mariadb-server-10.0.16v0 – multithreaded SQL database (server)". OpenBSD ports. 2015-01-30. Retrieved 2015-02-11.
50. "Switch from using MySQL to using MariaDB attempt #2". Retrieved 28 September 2014.
51. "openSUSE Dumps MySQL Makes MariaDB Default Database". Muktware. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
52. "Red Hat ditches MySQL, switches to MariaDB". Itwire.com. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
53. "Slackware News - 23 March 2013 ''Slackware switching to the MariaDB database''". Slackware.com. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
54. "Wikipedia Adopts MariaDB". Wikimedia Foundation. 2013-04-22.
55. "SaltOS sees gains with subqueries in MariaDB". MariaDB Foundation.
56. "Web of Trust (WOT) trusts the MariaDB upgrade". MariaDB Foundation.
57. "free and open-source web server solution stack for professional PHP development on the Windows". MariaDB Foundation.
58. "How Zimbra is Changing". Zimbra.
59. "Google sniffs at MySQL fork MariaDB: Yum. Have an engineer". The Register.
60. "MariaDB gets shot in the arm from Intel-led $20m SkySQL injection". ZDNet.

Further reading

• Bartholomew, Daniel (2013). Getting Started with MariaDB. ISBN 9781782168096.
• Bartholomew, Daniel (2014). MariaDB Cookbook. ISBN 978-1-78328-440-5.
• Forta, Ben (2011). MariaDB Crash Course. Addison Wesley. ISBN 0-321-79994-1.

External links

• MariaDB Foundation website
• MariaDB Corporation website
• MariaDB Knowledge Base – MariaDB documentation
• MariaDB, the Backward Compatible Branch of MySQL(R) Database Server on YouTube – a lecture given by Monty Widenius at Google