Ask HN: Why do people still use MySQL over MariaDB?

To consider trying something new, they would need to expect a big improvement. That's not really what MariaDB promises.

So, on the dev front, I'm going to be inclined to stick with MySQL on my local dev machine, knowing that I'm also deploying to MySQL in production. Even if MariaDB is designed as a drop-in replacement, there can be differences between the two that impact how code runs. This is especially true when one (MariaDB) is updated more frequently.

I'm sure I can roll my own MariaDB server on an EC2 machine vs going with RDS, then also migrate my dev machine to MariaDB as well. But, I've just not seen a compelling reason to undertake that effort as of yet.

Even today I have people asking me 'how to install OpenOffice on Fedora'. They complain how the yum commands they found on a 5 year old guide do not work anymore. Then they go and search for an OpenOffice RPM, which they do find, and then complain how bad Linux system is.

Granted that office suites are generally end-user whereas databases are developers, I can't see my college's system admin installing MariaDB the same way I can't see my college teaching MongoDB.

Just my 2¢

If they are technically the same, the cost for me currently is the same ($0), and the experience is the same, there is not immediate justification. Now when Maria adds some nifty new feature (schema-less data storage, intelligent joined results, or some other cool, thing that takes the bite out of massive SQL queries) then it becomes compelling because it isn't same-old/same-old.

I'm sure the same goes for a lot of others; additionally I am comforted that Maria exists and is being developed, and if my situation changes that will be the direction I go.

Sure it is probably "better", but running Debian's stable release the only updates I wish to apply are security fixes from the security team.

Hey, as Scott Adams would say, "at least there's a reason"! http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2000-02-13/