Open source just started winning by copying the incumbent. mariadb 13.0, ga september 15, adds ref…
open source just started winning by copying the incumbent. mariadb 13.0, ga september 15, adds ref cursors, record types and update returning to go deeper on oracle pl/sql compatibility.
migration got cheaper than rewrite.
Context
MariaDB's blog announcing MariaDB Community Server 13.0 GA, which a search index dates to September 15, 2026 and whose page text carries no date, describes it as a rolling release that will not receive further bug-fix releases, building on 12.3 LTS. The 13.0 notes list TYPE IS REF CURSOR with weak and strong typing, RECORD in routine parameters and function returns, and single-table UPDATE with RETURNING including OLD_VALUE(). The docs say REF CURSOR and RECORD as parameter or return types are not yet supported for global, non-package routines. MariaDB says the release deepens Oracle PL/SQL compatibility and makes it easier to bring Oracle PL/SQL based applications to MariaDB.
GA here means a rolling release and not long-term support, and the REF CURSOR and RECORD features are scoped to package routines, with UPDATE RETURNING limited to a single table. The September 15 date comes from the index and not from page text. Compatibility is the vendor's word and partial and incremental by its own text, and no migration cost data was read, so compatibility is not a measured migration cost. Open source just started winning by copying the incumbent is the author's framing.
Watch next
- The next LTS release.
Sources
Provenance
The note above is reproduced unedited from the original post, first published on Threads on 22 September 2026 at 12:18 IST. Sources are the papers and datasets the note draws on.
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