Sun Deal Could Still Shine on Oracle

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. (TheStreet) -- Oracle's(ORCL Quote) shock acquisition of Sun(JAVA Quote) is entering into a critical phase which could either make or break the controversial $7.4 billion deal.

Already approved by Sun shareholders and regulators on this side of the Atlantic, Oracle is now duking it out with the European Commission, which has until Jan. 19. to approve or reject the deal. Earlier this week the EC issued a formal statement of objections relating to the acquisition, with the big stumbling block being Sun's MySQL database technology.

Oracle's Ellison Vs. The E.U.

MySQL, which competes with Microsoft's(MSFT Quote) SQL and IBM's(IBM Quote) DB2, is one of Sun's brightest rays of light. The technology, however, also features in free software projects such as WordPress, prompting concern that the deal could have widespread ramifications for the broader tech sector.

But would it really be so terrible if Oracle got hold of MySQL?

As one commenter on TheStreet's message boards explains, even open source technologies need a solid foundation of support, something that would be ably provided by the combined strength of the two tech giants. "An Oracle/Sun team could only further enhance the success of MySQL and the community that relies on it," the commenter said. "Splitting MySQL off would torpedo the community because customers would fear they could not get good support and would be at the mercy of whomever tried to run with the code base."

Hard-hitting EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, however, is something of an open-source crusader and is not afraid of Silicon Valley, as Intel(INTC Quote) discovered to its cost earlier this year.