"we’ve received an overwhelming response and embrace from customers and community members excited to see MySQL’s tremendous innovation and community backed by Sun’s financial muscle and global partners," said Jonathan Schwartz, president and chief executive officer, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "For the first time ever, businesses across the world can standardize on a commercially supported, open source platform that meets their needs for scale, quality and global service."
The announcement comes as the final chapter in the purchase, for which Sun agreed to pay $1 billion ($800 million in cash and $200 million in assumed options).
According to Sun, the database software has been downloaded over 100 million times since its first public launch. Now, with Sun more eager than ever to fight Microsoft, Oracle and IBM in the database market, the company announced the immediate availability of 7X24 year round global, enterprise-class database subscriptions and services for the entire MySQL product line.
In addition, Sun plans to start a global advertising campaign for MySQL, with CEO Jonathan Schwartz and several other executives leaving on a world tour to attract new customers.