MariaDB

Databases store most of the frequently changing information on the web -- from the content of BarCampMilwaukee.org to every tweet tweeted.  The two most popular open source database engines are PostgreSQL and MySQL.  After the recent MySQL roller coaster on the rails of Sun Microsystems and Oracle, some MySQL users are looking for an exit strategy.  Although Oracle says that they will continue development of the free verion of MySQL, they have little incentive to introduce features that might further limit sales of their other products.  Fortunately, some of the original developers of MySQL have banded together and created MariaDB.  It is a drop-in compatible replacement for MySQL and an expanded engine with support for additional table formats, query types, bug fixes, and performance optimizations.  I'll cover a few of the enhancements in MariaDB and demonstrate a basic comparison with MySQL on two cloud servers.  I'll tailor the presentation to the technical ability of the audience so if you're a developer who wants to better understand databases or a long-time DBA come and join us. Thanks to version2beta for the title :)  I encourage you to check out his presentation about PostgreSQL to learn about another excellent database engine.