MySQL
is a multithreaded, multi-user, SQL Database Management System
(DBMS)
MySQL AB makes
MySQL available as free software under the GNU General Public
License (GPL), but they also dual-license it under traditional
proprietary licensing arrangements for cases where the intended
use is incompatible with the GPL.
Unlike projects
such as Apache, where the software is developed by a public community,
and the copyright to the codebase is owned by its individual authors,
MySQL is owned and sponsored by a single for-profit firm, the
Swedish company MySQL AB, which holds the copyright to most of
the codebase. The company develops and maintains the system, selling
support and service contracts, as well as proprietary-licensed
copies of MySQL, and employing people all over the world who collaborate
via the Internet. MySQL AB was founded by David Axmark, Allan
Larsson, and Michael "Monty" Widenius.
MySQL is popular
for web applications and acts as the database component of the
LAMP and WAMP platforms (Linux/Windows-Apache-MySQL-PHP/Perl/Python).
Its popularity as a web application is closely tied to the popularity
of PHP, which is often combined with MySQL and nicknamed the Dynamic
Duo. It is easy to find many references that combine the two in
websites and books .The claim made in many books is that MySQL
is easier to learn and use than many other database applications.
MySQL is the
database component of many of the free Open Source applications
available for installation into your AUSWEB hosting account
with Fantastico
Deluxe which is an automated script installer. A few
clicks of your mouse and you can automatically install any
of the applications available.
