MySQL co-founder quits Sun

Michael Widenius is now splitting his time between two new ventures

Michael 'Monty' Widenius, co-founder of MySQL, has announced that he is leaving Sun Microsystems.

In a posting on his blog Widenius confirmed rumours that he had intended to leave the company last year, at around the time that MySQL's other co-founder, David Axmark, quit.

However, Widenius said that he was persuaded by Sun's management to stay for three months and fix problems with MySQL 5.1.

"The three months did stretch out to seven months, and the changes I had hoped Sun would apply in the MySQL Database group to fix our development and community problems did not happen fast enough," he said.

"Sun and I concluded that I have much higher chances of achieving my goals outside Sun, so it's just better to swallow the bitter apple, go out and get things going. We parted on good terms and we both expect to continue to do business and work together."

Widenius is now splitting his time between two new ventures. The first is a software house called Monty Program Ab, which aims to be a truly open source software house owned and run by 30 to 40 employees.

The new company will work with Sun in developing software for the MySQL-5.1-Maria tree, and will include some existing members of Sun's Maria team. Monty Program Ab will also write bespoke software for MySQL customers.

The second venture is to open a restaurant that uses databases of customers to provide a better service. Details will be announced later, but Widenius confirmed that it will offer discounts for database programmers.

Widenius will also plough some of his own money into providing venture capital for start-ups in disruptive technology.