Tech war: Chinese database software vendor shrugs off sanctions risk on using open-source code from Oracle’s MySQL system
- Beijing Wanli Open Source Software and parent Troy Information Technology assert that GreatDB database system does not face the risk of sanctions
- GreatDB’s core technology was developed independently in China, according to the two companies
A Chinese software vendor has brushed aside speculation that its enterprise product, which uses code from Oracle Corp’s MySQL open-source relational database management system, faces the risk of sanctions amid simmering tensions between Washington and Beijing.
To further clarify, Troy said: “The core of GreatSQL is not related to MySQL, and it is an independent technology evolution.”
The companies’ move reflect growing geopolitical tensions and fresh calls on the mainland to step up replacement of foreign technologies with home-grown products.
To be sure, Oracle has not made any plans to sanction or suspend use of its open-source product’s code by Chinese developers. Open-source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified.
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Founded in 2000, Beijing Wanli Open Source was one of the first Chinese developers to work with international database companies. In 2006, it co-founded a China research centre with MySQL and provided localisation services to Chinese customers.
Beijing Wanli Open Source, however, stopped working with MySQL when the company’s Swedish owner sold the firm in 2008 to Sun Microsystems, which was subsequently acquired by Oracle in 2010.
Concerns about open-source code safety are not new in China. An article published last year by Wang Xiaodong, a researcher at the State Information Centre, put the “supply suspension” risks as a key threat to China’s security.
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“All major international open-source code funds, projects and the great majority of open-source code licences originate in the US or in the hands of US companies,” Wang wrote, adding that use of such code could be suspended at any time by those who control it. “In a business perspective, open-source code models are increasingly involved with commercial interests and supply chain security.”