Here, there be dragons...

Still shell-shocked from the announcement of Sun's intent to acquire MySQL, I was among the many at Martin's presentation for whom his words seemed to miss our ears and whose eyes failed to register what was on the slides before us. A sea of silence. Martin quite nerviously continued on while, for me, I was stunned, expecting an IPO announcement and thinking that what was before me was a hypothetical situation being shared.

It was very real.

Now that I have had a couple of days to allow the news to embed, I can reflect upon the situation more rationally: Out of all the big names in the IT industry, Sun is perhaps the best and only choice for which the purchase would not be for the brand. MySQL has a very real chance of sustained survival in Sun's ecosystem. Talking to many collegues, I think the outlook is generally very positive except with a small number of reservations revolving around IP issues. As to how I personally feel: Still a little stunned but I think that for the ongoing future survival for MySQL as a product and as a community, being acquired by Sun is the best possible scenerio.

As MySQL is now set on a course into terra incognita, being swallowed whole by Sun, MySQL's staff will have to navigate with trepidation in our new world. Where MySQL is a small company full of smart individuals, there is a fear among some that their voices will be lost among the ocean of Sun's talented.

Time will tell.