MariaDB is a community-developed fork of MySQL. Created by Michael Widenius after Oracle acquired MySQL, it aims to maintain MySQL’s open-source nature and add new features faster than Oracle’s stewardship allows.
Origins
When Oracle acquired Sun (and thus MySQL) in 2010, concerns arose about MySQL’s future as truly open source. Widenius, MySQL’s original creator, forked the codebase to create MariaDB, named after his younger daughter.
Compatibility
MariaDB maintains MySQL compatibility:
- Drop-in replacement for MySQL
- Compatible protocols and APIs
- Data file compatibility
- Familiar administration tools
Differences from MySQL
MariaDB has diverged with additional features:
- More storage engines (Aria, ColumnStore)
- Enhanced replication
- Better performance in some scenarios
- More frequent releases
Adoption
Major organizations have switched to MariaDB:
- Wikipedia
- Google (internal use)
- Many Linux distributions default to MariaDB
Open Source Commitment
MariaDB exists to ensure a fully open-source MySQL-compatible database remains available regardless of Oracle’s decisions about MySQL’s licensing and development.