Duke's Corner

A conversation with both MySQL community managers on the latest in the community and the technology In this conversation I talk with both MySQL community managers, David Stokes from Texas and Frédéric Descamps from Belgium. I met both of them in Brussels in February 2020 during the preFOSDEM 2020 MySQL Days. This is where the MySQL community comes together for two days of intensive technical sessions before going to the premier European open source conference — FOSDEM (Free and Open Source Software Developers' European Meeting). Yes, there's that much content to deal with so you need a conference before the conference! Before the pandemic, Oracle used to send many engineers from various open source projects at the company to FOSDEM to participate in the event and to engage the other 20K developers from around the world there. And the MySQL team at Oracle was always a big part of the conference.  Now in mid 2021 tech conferences still haven't really started up again, so development and community building takes place virtually. That's where I pick up the conversation with David and Frédéric. MySQL technology is hot these days. There is a new release out recently with many fixes and enhancements, but even before that the project released a new feature called HeatWave. That's a real-time analytics MySQL Database Service in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). It's easily enabled and disabled on demand with no application changes and can result in performance improvements of about 400 times. And it's only found in OCI. David and Frédéric said the early customer and developer reaction to the technology has been "staggering and eye popping." But in the conversation the guys also talked about more bits in MySQL, such as high availability, clustering, the shell, and the Kubernetes operator.  We also explored some of the dynamics going on in the MySQL community, such as the steep learning curves that all developers have to deal with these days due to the ever increasing rate of change in software development. Some of the younger developers are discovering that some of the tools and techniques that were considered "old" are coming back because, well, they just work. On the other hand, younger developers seem to tolerate better all the exclusively virtual events these days than some of the older developers. So, there are multiple simultaneous trends taking place, just as there is in any aspect of life. So Frédéric and David have a good sense of the community and hope that when live events return they can bring together the older developers with all the new developers so the community can gel again in physical experiences. And finally, they both said that in another six months there will be some really cool technology coming out. They wouldn't say more about that. But I'd take their word on that tease, though. The last time they told me that some cool stuff was coming they released HeatWave shortly thereafter. Video on YouTube https://youtu.be/T3TK23THWKw  David Stokes is a MySQL Community Manager in Texas. https://twitter.com/stoker Frédéric Descamps is a MySQL community Manager in Belgium. https://twitter.com/lefred Jim Grisanzio is a Sr. Community Manager in Oracle Developer Relations https://twitter.com/jimgris MySQL Community https://dev.mysql.com/ Announcing July 2021 Releases featuring MySQL 8.0.26 https://blogs.oracle.com/mysql/announcing-july-2021-releases-featuring-mysql-8026 HeatWave https://www.oracle.com/mysql/heatwave/ MySQL Database Service—New HeatWave Innovations https://www.oracle.com/events/live/mysql-heatwave-innovations/ Frédéric Descamps Previews Oracle Developer Live — MySQL | October 2020 https://youtu.be/6i1WreKco9E Dave Stokes and Frederic Descamps on Contributing to the MySQL Project | June 2020 https://youtu.be/NUU4W8O3teE preFOSDEM 2020 MySQL Days | February 2020 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwfImoydiSsuHfrVWcq8qJ_cz8o6vuoRo   Cheers Jim -- Jim Grisanzio, Sr. Community Manager, Oracle Developer Relations https://twitter.com/jimgris  

Here are some photos, stories, and lessons I've collected over the years building Open Source software development communities at Sun Microsystems, Oracle, and on my own. I like taking photos and I like talking to developers — it's how I learn. So in this comprehensive commentary I talk about pretty much everything I've learned during the previous 15 years or so doing community development. Everything I've learned I still use today. You can follow along with the photos below or view the video. I gave an earlier version of this talk at the All India Oracle User Group's (AIOUG) virtual OG Yatra in 2020, and I've talked about bits and pieces of the content in many other presentations. That's why I wanted to bring it all together into a single narrative centered around some specific images and stories. Hope it hangs together.  Podcast Host: Jim Grisanzio, Oracle Developer Relations https://twitter.com/jimgris https://developer.oracle.com/team/    Photos https://jimgrisanzio.files.wordpress.com/2021/07/grisanzio-community-stories.pdf   Video https://youtu.be/nzo0PYv4tUM   Article https://jimgrisanzio.wordpress.com/building-communities/   All India Oracle User Group OGYatra 2020 Slides https://jimgrisanzio.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/2020-grisanzio-ogyatra.pdf   All India Oracle User Group OGYatra 2020 Video https://youtu.be/gz7nMtWaUB0   Oracle Developer Relations Social https://twitter.com/jimgris https://twitter.com/groundbreakers https://twitter.com/oracleace https://twitter.com/oracleugs https://developer.oracle.com/

From the Archives | February 2020, Honolulu Hawaii Jim Grisanzio talks with Gerald Venzl from Oracle and Chris Thalinger from Twitter at UnVoxxed Hawaii 2020 about the un-conference format, the technical sessions, the mix of conference attendees, and some of the activities people took in during the three day event.  Jim Grisanzio https://twitter.com/jimgris Chris Thalinger https://twitter.com/christhalinger Gerald Venzl https://twitter.com/GeraldVenzl Sanbox Conference Center https://sandboxhawaii.org/ YouTube Video https://youtu.be/nEIngyumfz8 This is part of the "From the Archives" series I'm posting occasionally to revisit some of the interesting personalities I've spoken to and the places where we've been building community here at Oracle. It's nice to look back every now and then. What you'll notice right away is a totally different energy when we're at an event working closely face-to-face. We all miss it. Hopefully we'll return to the road some day. For now, though, let's always remember and never forget. Cheers. ♥︎ Podcast Host: Jim Grisanzio, Oracle Developer Relations https://twitter.com/jimgris https://developer.oracle.com/team/ 

Jim Grisanzio talks with Mia Urman, Oracle ACE Director and CEO of AuraPlayer, about her experiences at the recent ODTUG Kscope21 virtual conference and the upcoming OATUG's Ascend conference in Miami, Florida in August 2021.  Mia Urman, Oracle ACE Director, CEO of AuraPlayer https://twitter.com/miaurman Video YouTube | Twitter  Here is an older conversation in December 2020 we had on YouTube: Oracle ACE Director Mia Urman on Moving Oracle Forms into the Next Generation | Sangam 20 https://youtu.be/YyOwLToptnM Podcast Host: Jim Grisanzio, Oracle Developer Relations https://twitter.com/jimgris https://developer.oracle.com/team/ 

Inspiring Builders: Part 2: Jim Grisanzio and Chris Bensen talk with Dale Dougherty from Make Magazine about the global phenomenon of Makers -- people who build with their bare hands and who give back to the community. This story is as old as it gets. We all have an inherent desire to build and collaborate and share, right? Engaging Communities of Makers - People who Build with their Bare Hands (Video) Dale Dougherty, Founder of Make Magazine https://twitter.com/dalepd https://twitter.com/make https://twitter.com/makerfaire https://makezine.com/ https://makerfaire.com/ Chris Bensen, Oracle Developer Relations https://twitter.com/chrisbensen YouTube: Chris Bensen: Inspiring Developers to Build Real Things Building of Super Pi Building the world’s largest Raspberry Pi cluster The Seven Step Process to Creating an Amazing Demo Starting a New Project — Pi Zero Custom Breadboard Episode 1 - Custom Breadboard for Pi Zero Podcast Host: Jim Grisanzio, Oracle Developer Relations https://twitter.com/jimgris https://developer.oracle.com/team/ 

Inspiring Builders: Part 1: Jim Grisanzio and Chris Bensen from Oracle Developer Relations talk about how they engage developers via demos and experiences online and at conferences. This in depth conversation is part one of a two part series on inspiring developers to build real things.  Jim Grisanzio on Twitter @jimgris Chris Bensen on Twitter @chrisbensen YouTube: Chris Bensen: Inspiring Developers to Build Real Things Building of Super Pi Building the world’s largest Raspberry Pi cluster The Seven Step Process to Creating an Amazing Demo Starting a New Project — Pi Zero Custom Breadboard Episode 1 - Custom Breadboard for Pi Zero Podcast Host: Jim Grisanzio, Oracle Developer Relations https://twitter.com/jimgris https://developer.oracle.com/team/   

Hackmakers: Part 4: Jim Grisanzio talks with Amanda Bennett, Tamara Orth, and Alistair Hofert, about their experiences being mentors at the Hackmakers World Innovation Day Hackathon in April 2021. The conversation ranged from what tools and platforms were used, what projects were worked, who the participants were, and the overall passion everyone brought to the event. Oracle and other organizations sponsored the event in collaboration with UNESCO and UNEP. The areas of focus for the projects included health, education, and work -- all based on the larger list of United Nations world development goals. Amanda Bennett, Innovation Specialist, Qrius Alliance Alistair Hofert, Co-Founder, Synapse Squared Tamara Orth, President, QUT BANDS Jim Grisanzio, Sr. Community Manager, Oracle Hackmakers Podcast Host: Jim Grisanzio, Oracle Developer Relations https://twitter.com/jimgris https://developer.oracle.com/team/ 

Hackmakers: Part 3: Jim Grisanzio talks with Steve Nouri about his experiences participating at the Hackmakers World Innovation Day​ Hackathon in April 2021. Steve is head of Data Science at ACS and also the Chair of Hackmakers. Steve loves participating in technical communities and hackathons and he talks about the value for developers in getting involved in these events. Oracle and other organizations sponsored the event in collaboration with UNESCO and UNEP. The areas of focus for the projects included health, education, and work -- all based on the larger list of United Nations world development goals.  Steve Nouri on LinkedIn Jim Grisanzio on LinkedIn Jim Grisanzio on Twitter Video on YouTube Podcast Host: Jim Grisanzio, Oracle Developer Relations https://twitter.com/jimgris https://developer.oracle.com/team/ 

Jim Grisanzio talks with Rex Wang, VP for Developer Marketing, and Alok Sanghavi, Product Manager, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, about the latest news and new services offered in Oracle Cloud Free Tier. See http://oracle.com/free. Video on YouTube Rex Wang on Twitter @wrecks47 Alok Sanghavi on Twitter @aloksanghavi78 Podcast Host: Jim Grisanzio, Oracle Developer Relations https://twitter.com/jimgris https://developer.oracle.com/team/ 

Hackmakers: Part 2: Jim Grisanzio talks with Jason Lowe about his experiences participating at the Hackmakers World Innovation Day​ Hackathon in April 2021. Jason spoke about the people, skills, and software technologies that Oracle contributed to the event and some of history and upcoming hackathons as well. Developers and non-developers alike came together to work on projects to help support the people in need around the world -- and in the process they learned valuable new skills they can use in their careers. The experience was a continuum of learning for everyone. Oracle and other organizations sponsored the event in collaboration with UNESCO and UNEP. The areas of focus for the projects included health, education, and work -- all based on the larger list of United Nations world development goals.  Jason Lowe, Master Cloud Specialist Engineer, Oracle, @jlowe000 Podcast Host: Jim Grisanzio, Oracle Developer Relations https://twitter.com/jimgris https://developer.oracle.com/team/