Dead database walking : MySQL’s creator on why the future belongs to MariaDB - scathing opinions on MySQL’s future with #Oracle. Still running #MySQL ? Here is why you should switch to the #MariaDB fork - a drop-in replacement. For all practical purposes, you can see MariaDB as an upgrade of MySQL - so let’s do it !
▻http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/457551/dead_database_walking_mysql_creator_why_future_belongs_mariadb
As this Debian walkthrough shows, it really is as simple as swapping one package for the other - the MySQL API is still available and therefore everything else keeps working as before : ▻http://lenss.nl/2010/11/changing-mysql-for-mariadb
Many distributions have not yet switched yet (there is an ITP for Debian) but you can add the MariaDB repository to your sources list :▻https://downloads.mariadb.org/mariadb/repositories - now I’ll just have to convince my colleagues...