The respondents were polled for their views on MySQL and other open-source databases. A key finding was that for MySQL to remain a success, respondents said the database must remain true to its open-source roots despite its current commercial organization ownership. Most strikingly, eighty percent of the respondents said they would ditch MySQL if its operations and development became less transparent.

Amongst MySQL’s core attractions and reason for selection were reliability (49%), performance (48%), and value-for-money (47%), but 88% chose MySQL to use in the first place because of its open source roots. Other findings include
● Some 57% were long-term MySQL users of between three and ten years. (MySQL was initially released eighteen years ago.)
● Today, 79% relied only on internal resources to support and maintain their MySQL databases.
● A massive 94% said they would move to MariaDB if they stopped using MySQL.

Overall, the research pointed to a number of detailed developer and administrator concerns, including frustration with a lack of access to the latest test cases. This has led to contingency planning should they need to move away from MySQL in the future. These findings are in line with recent news of some of the largest technology companies in the world looking for more transparent alternatives to their current database, including MariaDB.

Patrik Sallner, SkySQL CEO said of the results, "It was fantastic to see the views of so many people within the community, and their answers have been duly noted. The core ingredients when trying to build a tech success like MySQL are simple, but hard to maintain: a strong customer-service ethos, value for money, and accessibility. However, it shows some users nervous and willing to use alternative databases. As a provider of MySQL services, as well as guardian of MariaDB, we do well to keep focused on this. We plan to work on how we can best serve the MySQL and MariaDB communities with the great service they deserve."