Should rename MySQL to MariaDB

[hozawa]

Jaspersoft has decided to bundle MariaDB Client Library with 5.5.0. This may be good because it will become bundled, but I think Jaspersoft should state that it's using MariaDB Client Library instead of MySQL Connector/J. In almost all cases, there probably isn't a problem but if you're using Jasperreports in production environment, it's better to know exactly what it being used.

In "6.4.4 Buidomatic Location for JDBC Drivers" in JasperReports Server Install Guide", there's a mention of using maridb java client driver, but the corresponding database is "MySQL" and not "MariaDB".

As it is now, users are mislead to believe they are using MySQL Connector/J.

MariaDB is a good software, but it's now MySQL. There's some slight differences. Users should be given the "correct" information. If Jaspersoft is going to use MariaDB, they really should change from using "MySQL" to "MariaDB".

https://mariadb.com/kb/en/mariadb-versus-mysql/

[ilona]

Thank you for the feedback! I'll make sure the appropriate people know.

Regards,
Ilona

[hozawa]

I'm just worried because there's some differences between the drivers.

 

Example:

https://mariadb.atlassian.net/browse/CONJ-64

 

I think there was another problem in one of the mariadb client library release of jdbc error when mysql connector/j was replaced with mariadb client library.

 

If Jaspersoft is going to provide full support when using mariadb client library with MySQL, that'll be OK with me too.

[ilona]

This question is being addressed. I've marked the page to be sure and come back to you when I know more.

Regards,
Ilona

[tkavanagh]

Thank you for the really good information on MySQL vs MariaDB (and the link about incompatibilities). It is best to be as clear as possible about which drivers are being used (as you mention, this is even more important in a Production environment). 

I will follow up and update the section 6.4.4 in the Install Guide. I think that this is the best place to mention additional information on the driver that is packaged by default in order to run with the MySQL database. Also, we are shooting for having the Install Guide be online in HTML format for the upcoming 5.6 release. There will be opportunities to re-structure the Guide to make it specific to MySQL if someone is interested in MySQL. So, at that point, additional information can be added. 

Just a little background information too: 

We support and "certify" the MySQL database. We support the MariaDB database (it is generally compatible with JasperReports Server). But we have not "certified" it. This means that our QA group has not gone through a comprehensive suite of testing to look for any specific problems with MariaDB. But I'm pretty confident that everything will work fine. These certifications are driven by customer requests - folks can make an enhancement request on the tracker section of the Community site. 

The other bit of information (that I think is also in the release notes) is that we have included the mariadb jdbc driver. Where previously we did not include a driver for MySQL. This is because the license of the MySQL JDBC driver was such that it was incompatible with the JasperReports Server license. But the mariadb jdbc driver license works well with our license, so once the driver was available we included it.