MySQL is dual-licensed under the GPL and a proprietary license. The GPL is too restrictive for some uses, which is why dual-licensing works. The problem is, any forks of MySQL would be under the GPL and only the GPL.
PostgreSQL (which does run on OS X, btw) has a more liberal BSD-style license. But a lot of people are very invested in MySQL, and converting from one to the other isn't as simple as snapping your fingers. I can see how people would be apprehensive about this.
Will Oracle run MySQL into the ground by merging it with their own products, making a hideous FrankenDB?
Come to think of it...is there anything
else they could do with it?
