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Days at Sun Draw to a Close for MySQL's Axmark

Yesterday Computerworld reported that MySQL cofounder and lead engineer David Axmark has resigned from Sun Microsystems. Axmark indicated that he felt he would be "better off in smaller organizations" and working with MySQL and Sun on a "less formal basis."

Axmark's involvement with MySQL has included heading the engineering, internal IT, and community relations efforts of the project. Since January, when Sun purchased MySQL, Axmark has been working mostly with the press and in community relations.

Axmark's departure comes close on the heels of Michael "Monty" Widenius' announcement that he, too, is considering leaving Sun.

Questions naturally arise from these sorts of departures. Are resignations like this unexpected? Are they inherently harmful to the developer, the company, or the project?

As an outsider looking in, I'd venture that this isn't detrimental to any of the parties involved, and might prove positive in the long run.

It seems Axmark knows his limits, as well as the limitations of Sun, and the more traditional corporate environment. As he stated in his resignation letter, he wasn't happy with the rules, but breaking them didn't sit well either. I can't imagine there are any CEOs or upper-level managers who wouldn't appreciate hearing that, regardless of whether they wanted to hear it.

Axmark states he's more comfortable in smaller organizations. He's got a proven track record that he can help make these smaller projects work -- and work well. Where Axmark is going from here has not been hinted at, but a modestly funded project with the right developers, the right team behind it, has a better chance of long-term success than a project with a lot of cashflow and an indifferent (or miserable) set of core developers and leaders.

That's also not to say MySQL will suffer at Sun's hands. MySQL was purchased less than a year ago, and there will be growing pains. Axmark's departure, and Widenius' possible departure are certainly setbacks (perhaps more for Sun than MySQL itself) because they are known in the community, and they've done positive work with the project. Sun is in a position to make corporations and industries aware of MySQL's strengths, and perhaps "legitimize" open source to industries that may be hesitant to accept it. And the open nature of the code base allows the community, new developers and former developers alike, to move that code in the direction they feel it needs to go.

• mysql
• Database
• Sun
• open source
• Axmark
• Widenius
• database management
• corporate

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