Oracle snaps up Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems – current owner of the popular open-source MySQL database engine – is getting gobbled up by database specialist Oracle.

In a move which is unlikely to get the approval of Monty Widenius, Oracle is getting its sweaty hands on Sun's Java, MySQL, and Solaris operating system technologies in exchange for a whopping $7.4 billion (£4.78 billion).

As reported over on TechRadar yesterday, Oracle is looking to boost its Fusion Middleware offering – the company's fastest growing business division – with the acquisition of Sun Microsystems. In a statement, Oracle said that the deal offered “substantial long-term strategic advantages” while describing Java as “the most important software Oracle has ever acquired.”

What the company is not yet revealing is the fate of popular open-source database engine MySQL: with Oracle having a vested interest in pushing its own commercial database engine, it's hard to see a place in the company's newly expanded portforlio for Widenius's creation.

Larry Ellison, chief executive officer of Oracle, claims the deal will make Oracle “the only company that can engineer an integrated system – applications to disc – where all the pieces fit and work together so customers do not have to do it themselves.” He also revealed predictions that the purchase of Sun will add a not inconsiderable $2 billion to Oracle's profit within the next two financial years.

While Sun has been courting buyers for a while now, the deal with Oracle has come out of the blue: according to CNet the announcement has shocked IBM and Microsoft, who were both investigating the possibility of snagging the company for themselves.

Do you hope that Oracle can push Java to the next level, or are you already mourning the seemingly inevitable demise of MySQL? Share your thoughts over in the forums.