Open source databases move into the marketplace

A growing number of small and midsize organizations are using databases for relatively simple functions not requiring the complex, expensive software that vendors typically sell to large companies and government agencies. The smaller organizations are thus increasingly turning to open source databases, which tend to cost less than their proprietary counterparts, such as those sold by IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle. According to analyst Paul Kirby of AMR Research, a market analysis firm, a survey of and interviews with 140 IT managers indicated that open source databases will gain widespread acceptance by 2006. The major open source databases include Firebird, MaxDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Sleepycat Software's Berkeley DB.