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CNET reports that Sun Microsystems is about to buy MySQL AB, developer of open source database management system MySQL, for 1 billion dollars: $800 million in cash for MySQL's privately held stock and another $200 million in options.
Until now, Sun has been endorsing MySQL's competitor, PostgreSQL, but now they're after the big fish. MySQL is one of the most successful open source projects ever, and MySQL AB has over 360 employees in over 25 countries. The deal comes somewhat unexpected as rumor had it that MySQL AB was about to go the IPO route.