MySQL Piggy-Backs Open Source, Dominates DB Use

By Angela Natividad | Published Mar 22, 2007

The latest Evans Data survey reflects over a quarter of database usage instances among developers over the past two years utilize MySQL. Why the dramatic figure?

To start with, developer database use is up 32% from two years prior, bringing total usage to 40%. Growing adoption of the LAMP stack (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP) also makes a large contribution. And Evans notes that as open source solutions — already dominating at 65% use in North America alone as of Fall '06 - increase in popularity, the preference for MySQL will keep on following suit.

President John Andrews of Evans Data Corp imparts more on the trend. “We continue to see the maturation of open-source databases reflected by the continually increasing levels of adoption […] In an increasing number of our ratings categories, we're seeing open-source databases meeting or exceeding proprietary databases.”

The results are no small wonder, considering even proprietary solutions are beginning to see the logic in tapping into the collective wisdom of clients and other programmers. Leading the trendpack is the ECM market, which has seen significant growth in both adoption and user satisfaction resulting from primarily open source offerings like Alfresco and Joomla. Open source is also making big inroads in the EU, a young juicy market for CMS solutions purveyors. Can developers sit quietly by in the Dark Ages as their managerial counterparts sweep past on wheels born in the mindshare orgy? Hardly.

The MySQL findings were gleaned from a set of multi-client surveys taken and published by Evans Data Corp, which acts as a vendor-neutral third-party market research firm. Additional findings from the same report include:

Four out of ten developers in enterprise organizations operate an open source database
Over 69% of open source developers report high satisfaction with open source database options available on the market

Conversely, another recent Evans Data report reflects that developers feel more secure in an Adobe or Microsoft script environment than in client/server AJAX solutions like Ruby, Python and PHP. Clearly there's still room for brands at the top of the proprietary software foodchain to flex some muscle in the brave new world of Enterprise 2.0. The cards are changing though, and fast.

Santa Cruz-based Evans Data Corporation provides up-to-date market intelligence on the IT industry, based on detailed and recurring surveys among developers worldwide. Learn more about them or read their latest report at the Evans Data Corp website.