- Oracle admitted it needed a new approach in February
- The company now offers a new community approach to MySQL.
- Community roles and steering committee will ensure maximum quality
Oracle’s vice president of external standards and community engagement, Heather VanCura, revealed in a blog post the company’s “next phase” of MySQL community engagement as it seeks to make the open source database project more transparent and collaborative.
The update follows community criticism of Oracle’s direction of the project, and the company ultimately responded with new governance frameworks.
In February 2026, Community Manager Frédéric Descamps admitted that the project was failing community members. Descamps promised a “decisive” and “reinvigorated” approach.
Oracle announces the “next phase” of MySQL
VanCura clearly recognized the role that community members have played in MySQL over the past three decades, referencing the need for visibility and deeper participation.
Under the new plans, contributors can participate through code submissions, bug testing, code reviews, technical discussions and more. Experiment contributors can become committers, taking on responsibilities such as maintaining code quality, and they are willing to be guided by mentors and project managers.
“Trust is built through transparent processes, clear decision-making and meaningful participation opportunities,” VanCura added.
Oracle also launched a new vulnerability group and technical steering committee. AWS, Google Cloud and Oracle will have representatives on the committee, but the company also stressed the need for “additional perspectives from MySQL users.”
Percona co-founder Peter Zaitsev praised Oracle for its obvious willingness to make changes (via The register): “This is a step in the right direction…Oracle has shown a willingness to be more open to the community in terms of sharing and to include the broader community in the decision-making process.”
Moving forward, VanCura promises to share metrics with the community, engage in more discussions, and maintain a high quality of contributions.
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