Oracle, owners and makers of the popular MySQL database program, are today set to announce the biggest update to their software since its inception - a name change, which is aimed to dramatically reduce potential legal issues. The name change announced sees the program going from being called MySQL, to YourSQL. Online pretend property lawyer, Mark Simmons told us:
"Absolutely brilliant move by Oracle here. For years they've had lawsuits thrown at them by folk assuming that 'MySQL' databases are essentially wholly the responsibility of Oracle, and that when they go wrong Oracle are essentially to blame and must fix them. Poppycock, of course, but then these people can be very convincing when they are as passionate and violent as some people are wont to be."
The issue here seems to be the possessive adjective used, with claimants demanding that, since Oracle issue the software, the "My" would indicate the company itself. Despite numerous blog posts and market decrees disavowing this, some have not been convinced. Last month MySQL user John Roberts went to the court of arbitration after losing an earlier case and, although the judgement went against him, the judge had some sympathy with Roberts' suggestion that the "My" article was at least confusing.
Oracle released this short statement to explain their upcoming change.
"While we firmly disagree that the software's name should in any way affect our responsibilities for ongoing customer service, we recognise that this situation is not going away, and as such we are officially renaming MySQL to YourSQL to clarify matters. Thank you."
The change has, however, left some users unhappy. Others are now claiming that since the software says that it's "YourSQL", that clearly means that since the user is in possession of the software, the "You" in this case is Oracle itself, and that Oracle is now responsible for the software.
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