Nine in 10 respondents claim the primary reason their company uses the MySQL database is because of its open source nature, according to a survey from SkySQL.

And there’s bad news attached to that statement: a whopping 94% admitted they would move to MariaDB if MySQL lots its open source power.

The survey opened up some interesting thoughts on the development of MySQL, which has only been on the market since 1995. More than half (57%) of respondents have used MySQL for between three and 10 years, with over a quarter (28%) using MySQL for over 10 years.

This gives an indication of the longevity of the system, and the loyalty of companies using it – but the tide may be turning.

Perhaps the most worrying statistic was that four in five (79%) organisations only use internal resources to support MySQL. 9% used Oracle, with 8% opting for survey creators …