When MySQL co-founder David Axmark said his goodbyes in October, he cited the constraints of corporate life as the reason for making his break. At the same time, a Sun spokesman described the relationship between the computing giant and remaining MySQL co-founder Michael Widenius as "hard to predict." The clouds have cleared from the company's crystal ball, however, as Widenius officially announced his departure yesterday — only to be followed this morning by a similar announcement from former MySQL CEO Marten Mickos.

Widenius' departure — which, as we said, has been predicted for many months — comes just months after a very-public row with Sun over the designation of MySQL 5.1 as "generally available." In a now-infamous blog post, Widenius blasted the move, saying the release still contained many critical bugs and describing its new features as "beta quality" — he also submitted his resignation, but was persuaded to stay with the promise of "an optimal role" within Sun and agreed to remain an additional three months to improve MySQL development. In the blog post that announced his departure, Widenius indicates that the promised changes did not come quickly enough, and that he has formed his own firm, Monty Program Ab, "a true open-source company" which will employ a select few and "share the profit we create."

It was just hours after Widenius revealed his departure that a Sun spokesperson confirmed that Marten Mickos, MySQL's former CEO and Sun's senior database VP, would also be leaving the company. According to reports, Mickos — like co-founder David Axmark — has had enough of the big-company bureaucracy, and has cashed in his chips. The move is described as a "planned reorganization," with Sun's Karen Tegan Padir taking over Mickos' duties through the newly-formed MySQL and Software Infrastructure group. No further explanation was forthcoming, from either side, though Mickos is now listed in Sun's Executive Bios section as an "open source strategist," and continuing with the company until the end of the current quarter. (Sun is currently in the third quarter of its fiscal year 2009.)
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Justin Ryan is the News Editor for Linux Journal.
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