Widenius

Widenius is a Finnish surname. The name is most prominently associated with Michael “Monty” Widenius, a software developer and entrepreneur known for his work on MySQL and MariaDB. Widenius co-created MySQL with David Axmark in the mid-1990s and co-founded MySQL AB, the company that developed and promoted the database project. MySQL grew into one of the most widely used open-source relational database systems, especially in web applications and online services.

Following the acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle Corporation in 2010, which had previously acquired MySQL AB, Widenius led a fork of the MySQL codebase to preserve ongoing open development. He and colleagues formed Monty Program Ab to continue development, and the MariaDB Foundation was later established to govern the MariaDB project. MariaDB was released as a community-driven fork intended to remain fully open source, with MariaDB Corporation Ab providing commercial services around the software.

Widenius’s work has had a lasting impact on the open-source database landscape, illustrating approaches to governance, licensing, and sustainability for post-MySQL projects. The Widenius surname is most often encountered in connection with these contributions and is associated with Finnish software development and database technology.