Although the US antitrust regulators have already OK’d the Oracle-Sun merger, the European Union is not reassured. A hearing took place last week, and its details have not yet been released.
It is known, however, that Microsoft was to testify at that hearing, which may seem a bit strange: Microsoft is a strong competitor of both products with its SQL Server database, and Steve Ballmer is reported for saying “I have no idea why a software company would buy a hardware company. We don’t want to buy any hardware companies” – which indicates he may have incipient Alzheimer’s disease 
What strikes me, and not just me, is that Oracle has pledged its commitment to MySQL will go on for 5 years after the merger. In other words, if your company’s IT depends on MySQL, you might find yourself faced with a 5-year dead-end, despite Oracle’s reassuring past track record. Hopefully, the EU may insist on an indefinite commitment instead of just the 5 years.
Last minute (December 16): Microsoft and the EU have come to an agreement about the browser choice in Windows 7.
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