In http://www.mysqlperformanceblog.com/2008/07/01/should-we-proclaim-mysql-community-edition-dead/, Peter Zaitsev wonders if MySQL’s community edition is dead.

The title of Peter’s inquiry is somewhat misleading, as the database itself works fine. He clarifies a bit with, “there suppose to be 2 yearly binary releases (which are overdue) and 4 predictable yearly source releases, which we have not seen either.” I thought it was clear that “2 per year” doesn’t mean “one every six months”. It’s been eight months, sure. And I don’t actually believe that MySQL is going to have one source release per month until November, to make up for the lack of source releases. However, it’s certainly possible, if not probable.

The fact remains, however, that if you’re just looking for stable, recent, binary MySQL Community release, you might not find it. MySQL offers two out of three — stable and binary Community releases. Not recent, but I think it’s okay to charge for the most up-to-date version. In my experience only about half of the production environments out there have switched to 5.0, and many are running 4.1 and 4.0 still.

At the low end, a license costs just under USD$600. The requirement to buy a license to get the most recent version is a mere inconvenience, not a business-stopper. It’s not like MySQL is forcing everyone to run on version 3.23 unless they pay $10,000 per license. Charging a modest amount for the most up-to-date version is not a bad thing.

It would be nice to have been aware of that ahead of time, but MySQL as a company has not been so great at organizing and having all its ducks in a row. In fact this is where I hope Sun can really help MySQL out, as it has a reputation (a deserved one, in my experience) of being more highly organized.

Have you heard of Hanlon’s razor? “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.”

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UseNetVault Unlocks its Doors News Providers http://nzbtrader.org/news-providers/usenetvault-unlocks-its-doors

A new Usenet provider – http://www.usenetvault.com – is tying its shoes and stretching, anticipating to hit the ground running into an already large and competitve market.

UseNetVault is expecting to launch its usenet services on Monday, June 16th, 2008. Offering both monthly subscription accounts as well as slotted accounts, known as “pooled” or “bucket” accounts, allowing users to get prepaid accounts based on his/her anticipated bandwidth usage; these slotted accounts are valid for up to 12 months.

What we can expect:

• 100+ days binary retention
• SSL enabled for no extra cost
• 20 concurrent connections on all accounts
• Live support 24/7
• 100, 000+ available newsgroups
• and over 99.8% completion rate

Most conveniently, UseNetVault will also be accepting PayPal as a payment method (along with all major credit cards). This comes as a huge relief to many users! Very few news providers accept PayPal, despite the large demand, due to PP’s unwillingness work with usenet-related groups.

A word to the pirates: While we can assume they will comply with the DMCA, posting can be enabled on all accounts at no extra charge.

A word to the spammers: Don’t even think about it. Spammers will be shut off without notice. Save your pyramid schemes and cell phones from Nigeria for phpBB forums.

A word to the webmasters: Affiliate and referral systems will be in place (just don’t expect it for a few weeks after launch), giving you the opportunity to get cash back or credits to your account for signup leads you direct to them. A pretty sweet way to get someone else to pay for your Usenet access, without having to do anything.

Find out more here: http://www.usenetvault.com/