MariaDB and MySQL

[EmpireITtech]

Hello all,

I am not sure if this is the correct forum for this, but I guess it can/will be moved if it’s not…

I was installing a LAMP stack on openSUSE tumbleweed for testing purposes (I’ve installed LAMP before on Ubuntu-based servers), and ran across this MariaDB sql db. I’ve heard of MariaDB before, but never had much need to look into it before. I’ve been following the documentation here for the setup of this LAMP stack, and I had a few questions regarding MariaDB:

• What is the relationship between MariaDB and MySQL? Is there any?
• Do MariaDB versions correlate to MySQL versions - as in, are they based off them or developed together in any sort of way?
• It seems most documentation points to MariaDB being “better” for openSUSE over MySQL - any reason for this?
• How frequently does openSUSE update it’s MariaDB packages? It looks like it’s already currently on the latest stable
  version 10.1.22, but 10.2 has already had 2 RCs, and didn’t know if it would update to that automatically once 10.2 stable is released.

Thanks again for the assistance and info - sorry for being such a novice for this stuff.

Thanks!

• EmpireITtech

[john_hudson]

Up to MySQL 5.5, MariaDB and MySQL are interchangeable. After that, they are not - MariaDB versions now start with 10 to make this clear. MariaDB seeks to offer a lot more features but how important they will be for you depends on what you intend to use the database for. To understand the significance of MariaDB updates, you need to read the documentation. Unless you want a cutting edge feature, updates, other than security updates, are less of an issue with a database.

[tsu2]

AFAIK,
Although MariaDB forked off from MySQL and offers its own set of features which won’t be found in MySQL, for the purposes of simply supporting a LAMP application, basic functionality is common enough that it shouldn’t make any diff which you choose.

Something else you should know…
Although you’d want to check your LAMP application’s documentation first, you should generally secure your MariaDB/MySQL by running the included
“mysql_secure_installation” script to set up access (root local only or permit remote access?), set your MySQL Admin password and more. If you want to configure these settings in a standard way or need to support a number of MariaDB/MySQL machines, I describe one way to do this by script. But, if you just want to see what the command configures, you can read what I wrote…

https://en.opensuse.org/User:Tsu2/MySQL_and_Mariadb

TSU

[EmpireITtech]

Thanks tsu2 and john, I appreciate the information.

@tsu2

AFAIK,
Something else you should know…
Although you’d want to check your LAMP application’s documentation first, you should generally secure your MariaDB/MySQL by running the included
“mysql_secure_installation” script to set up access (root local only or permit remote access?), set your MySQL Admin password and more. If you want to configure these settings in a standard way or need to support a number of MariaDB/MySQL machines, I describe one way to do this by script. But, if you just want to see what the command configures, you can read what I wrote…

User:Tsu2/MySQL and Mariadb - openSUSE Wiki

tsu2 - I did run that right after installing the MariaDB. My biggest issue has been getting the warning/errors to go away in phpMyAdmin using MariaDB. I’ve used MySQL with phpMyAdmin before with no issues, but this MariaDB is throwing a few errors. I can provide those errors later, I’m not at my PC with access to the phpMyAdmin console.