Sun buys MySQL for $1bn

Purchase of open-source database firm shows that 'free' software can make money

Sun Microsystem is to buy Swedish database developer MySQL for about $1bn in a deal which suggests the open-source business model is working.

Software from MySQL AB, founded in 1991, drives around 11 million websites including those of Google, Nokia and Facebook.

Both companies give open-source applications away, and make their money by selling premium editions to corporates and charging them for maintenance and support.

Sun has been heavily pushing this model for its version of the Openoffice.org suite, which is seen as a rival to Microsoft Office.

It reckons that about 100 million copies of the free version of MySQL have been downloaded, and an additional 50,000 are downloaded daily.

The company said in a statement: "This broad penetration, coupled with MySQL's strength in Web 2.0, software as a service, enterprise, telecoms and the … embedded market make it an important fit for Sun."