Open Source Magazine’s Maureen O’Gara reported today that there was no announcement by the European Commission approving the Oracle-Sun merger on Tuesday, as was expected, because “antitrust czarina Neelie Kroes screwed up her confirmation hearing” for her new gig.
Kroes is up for the job of Digital Agenda commissar. Last week, she allegedly blew her confirmation hearing and she’s now getting a do-over.
O’Gara reported that Kroes doesn’t want to upset her chances of getting the new job by approving the increasingly unpopular Oracle-Sun merger. “So she sat on it,” O’Gara reported.
At issue, is Oracle’s control of the popular open source MySQL database server. Nearly 35,000 people have signed a petition by MySQL co-founder Monty Widenius urging the European Commission to not approve the deal.
“Should Oracle get MySQL unconditionally,” Widenius said, “then I can only say that as a European I am ashamed of our regulatory system,” reported O’Gara.
