So can these Open Source database options turn the tide for developers and IBM? I think it makes for a great start. Looking into the long term however, only time will tell.

Nowadays, the biggest traditional database companies are making free availability and open source development an increasingly significant part of their product lines. In the latest such move, this week IBM announced it would make its DB2 Express-C package available at no cost, though still under a proprietary license.

Before that, the Big Blue took on the Cloudscape open source database and development, and other database vendors have adjusted their strategies. Oracle acquired the open source database Innobase last fall, and also made available a free, “starter” version of its Oracle Database 10g. Sybase has offered a free Linux Express Edition of its database since 2004, and Microsoft has also offered an Express Edition for some time. There have also been others, including CA, which open sourced its Ingres database in 2004. [Read the rest]

Tags: open source, database, express edition, db2 express-c, oracle database