Sabre Holdings called on MySQL AB in January when its 64-bit MySQL database ground to a halt. Sabre's IT staff sent a snapshot of the problematic code to MySQL late on a Thursday afternoon, and the problem was resolved by the end of Friday. "I can't tell you how encouraged I was by that quick resolution," Murphy says.
National Leisure's Cash encountered "an appropriate amount of skepticism and professional concern" about tying such a key system to the latest open-source phenomenon. So he talked to JBoss users, did extensive testing, then signed up for support from the company that employs the key developers behind the application server of the same name. "We've been able to have very high-level contact with JBoss developers on how to increase performance," Cash says.
JBoss and MySQL are alike in employing the core developers behind the open-source products that begot the companies. "We tightly control our code base, unlike Linux," says Fleury, who's both CEO of JBoss and lead developer of the JBoss project. "It's open-source code with accountability, almost like a commercial company."
That accountability has its upside. "We know we wrote it all," says Zach Urlocker, MySQL's VP of marketing. As a result, MySQL for a fee will indemnify its customers from any claims of intellectual-property infringement that might arise. It's a top-of-mind issue for business-technology managers contemplating open source in light of SCO Group's widening legal assault on Linux developers and users.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer contends that Microsoft offers better manageability and lower total costs, while standing behind its products better than a company that doesn't own the intellectual property. But he doesn't expect the challenge to go away. "These companies may all go away," he says. "Five years from now, it may not be JBoss and MySQL that we're talking about. It will be someone else. But Microsoft will still be competing effectively with them."
