That doesn't sound consistent with the arrangements that MySQL AB
expect for commercial users of their products.
They indicate assortedly that:
- If you are developing and distributing open source applications
under the GPL, or some OSI-approved license, you are free to use
MySQL(tm) "for free."
- If you are *not* licensing and distributing your source code under
the GPL, then MySQL AB expects you to use their "OEM Commercial
License," which involves negotiating a contract with their
sales team.
Your scenario seems to clearly fall into the scenario where MySQL AB
expects you to pay them license fees.
If you don't include MySQL(tm) with your product, then that presumably
imposes the obligation to pay MySQL AB a license fee on the purchasor
that does the download. That may leave your hands clean, but if you
do not warn your customers of their obligation, and legal problems
arise, they may not be too happy with you...
The real key is that MySQL has left the world of traditional open source
and has instead taken on a commercial business interest in their
"product." This is disturbing considering that many people have
contributed code to their projects, including database drivers and other
client code that may be part of your product even if they have to
download the db engine separately. Now, those same people who
contributed may want to use MySQL, but unless they are building their
own GPL system, their use of MySQL with their freely contributed code
inside is no longer available without paying a fee.
My guess is that many (most?) MySQL implementations today violate the
provisions of their license. This is because many applications are
written for in-house consumption, simple web sites, etc. and those
applications are not GPL. It's mostly commercial apps that end up
getting the license because businesses fear lawsuits more than
individuals do (something like music "piracy" in which end users copying
a CD to their disk drives are much less likely to be sued than if you
produce products that incorporate the music inside).
PostgreSQL is the way to go if you want a truly open source solution for
your needs, whether commercial, private or open source.
David
