I am Chris Chinchilla 👋

On May 23rd 2025, the MySQL database celebrated its 30th anniversary. Look at the usage trends for databases on DB-engine and MySQL and its owner since 2010, Oracle's own product occupy the top two spots. However, the same rankings show that the popularity of most of the top four is declining, especially for MySQL. It has been in slow decline since the era of "cloud computing" began, but like many other areas of technology, it is the demands of and for artificial intelligence (AI) that are causing the most pressure. As it celebrates its 30th year, what is the project doing to remain relevant and competitive in the new AI age? With rivals hot on its tail and some of its biggest competitors offering fully compatible, free alternatives, how does it plan to survive for another 30 years?

Much like “googling” has become a generic term for searching, Grammarly has become almost synonymous with a general grammar and style checker, outside of those provided by tools like Word or Google Docs. I have used the pro version for several years, and while its advice is not always correct and inconsistent, it’s generally a good aid in giving ideas and pointers for writing. However, every year, that subscription comes up for renewal, and I start thinking about alternatives and features I’d like to have that Grammarly doesn’t offer. In this post, I look at the disappointingly few alternatives that exist.

Many organizations work with clients and infrastructure around the world and face significant challenges ensuring they follow privacy regulations as their application data flows across borders. This post looks at how you can use Bacalhau to handle distributed cross-border processing and anonymize data with Microsoft Presidio to help meet some of these requirements.