Open source database company SkySQL and Monty Program (home of the MariaDB community-developed branch of the MySQL database), owned by MySQL-database-creator Monty Widenius and its employees, have announced the availability of their connectors, "MariaDB Client Library for C and MariaDB Client Library for Java Applications", to the wider MySQL database community in the permissive LGPL licence.

NOTE: SkySQL is the provider of open source database solutions for MySQL and MariaDB users in the enterprise and cloud.

With this announcement, the connectors become part of the wider MariaDB open source project, to which users will be able to contribute via relevant online resources.

This announcement is relevant for users involved with applications built in C or Java that also make use of a MariaDB and/or MySQL database, as these require a connector to ensure that the applications and the databases can talk to each other.

Up until recently, the two companies had been working on the connectors as a joint internal project used for specific customer requirements. They are now making their connectors generally available to the community as part of the MariaDB open source project.

Connectors enable users to connect from a given application to a database, in this case the MySQL and MariaDB databases.

"These connectors have been an internal SkySQL/Monty Program project long enough and it was time to make them available to the wider MySQL user community," said Monty Widenius, CEO of Monty Program. "The connectors will add value to the MariaDB project by making our database technology and the MariaDB project itself easier for everyone to use. If anything, we're opening the MariaDB project even further to the community and demonstrating that innovation happens with MariaDB."

"We've been seeing a strong demand for connectors from the MySQL database ecosystem. We are looking for means to ensure that the ecosystem prospers and that both users and developers have a rich set of options. We believe that these connectors will help to stimulate innovation in the ecosystem," added Patrik Sallner, CEO of SkySQL. "Helping organizations out there adopt the MySQL and MariaDB databases more easily for their software projects also reinforces our position as the one-stop shop for all things to do with the MySQL and MariaDB databases."