MySQL Goes LTS! (Stories From the Cloud)

Inside MySQL: Sakila Speaks

The MySQL Team has implemented a new versioning model that includes LTS. Geir Hoydalsvik, Senior Director of Software Development for MySQL stops by to give a primer on this new versioning model and breaks down the differences between the '8.0' releases and the 'Innovation' releases.

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Episode Transcript:

00;00;09;13 - 00;00;31;20 Welcome to Inside MySQL: Sakila Speaks, a podcast dedicated to all things MySQL. We bring you the latest news from the MySQL team, MySQL product updates and insightful interviews with members of the MySQL community. Sit back and enjoy as your hosts bring you the latest updates on your favorite open-source database. Let's get started. 00;00;32;01 - 00;00;55;00 Hello and welcome to Sakila Speaks, the podcast dedicated to MySQL. Hi, I'm leFred and I'm Scott Stroz and I'm Geir Hoydalsvik. Yeah. Today our guest is Geir Hoydalsvik, software developer, director, responsible for MySQL development and maintenance of the MySQL database. This includes the following teams: server General, Runtime Optimizer, InnoDB, Server QA, and Sustaining. 00;00;55;04 - 00;01;19;15 Am I right? Yeah, that's correct. Geir, in April, the very first LTC version of MySQL will be released. Can you tell our listeners why this is significant? Yeah, that's the answer to kind of a customer and user request is to have stable releases that people can pick up security bug fixes, for example, without risk of having regressions by new feature and so on. 00;01;19;15 - 00;01;47;18 So, the long-term support release that we call LTS is actually stable for eight years, that people can buy support for this time period and essentially, they're guaranteed stability for a long time. Thank you. So between the LTS, so the major release, we will also release innovation releases. So, are those developments releases, or are there also production GA quality? 00;01;47;28 - 00;02;42;26 Thank you. A good question. They are also production quality. So, the current plans are that every second year we will release an LTS release and between two LTS test releases we will release, as you said, innovation releases every third month. So, there will be roughly eight of those between two LTS and they are production quality so people can get support or will get support with having these releases in production and this will be for people that are okay with more frequent changes and, and are willing to spend the energy of upgrading and so on between these and perhaps also take into account that releases features can go away deprecate old deprecated features can be 00;02;42;26 - 00;03;08;28 removed in innovation releases while they're never removed in LTS releases. So that's what people need to keep in check out, but they're absolutely useful and they will be supported. So as a follow up to that, what's the difference in the numbering between the LTS releases and the innovation releases? When it comes to version numbers, there is kind of a transition now between eight oh and eight four. 00;03;08;28 - 00;03;46;16 So, the first LTS release will be called 8.4 and that becomes in April. Then the main the LTS releases will be called 8.4.1, 8.4.2, 8.4.3, 8.4.4, 8.4.5 and up. So, the maintenance releases of all that LTS will be called like that. Then at the same time we will start producing innovation releases for a 9 series. So, there will be and I know 9.0, 9.1, 9.2 and so on up to 9.7 that is planned to be the next LTS release. 00;03;46;16 - 00;04;13;24 And I think in the future it will be probably more like 10 will be the next series and then 11, or at least that's how we think about it today. So, you can say that 8.4 is a little bit an exception there. That transition into a 9.0, 10.0, 11.0 and type of numbering. And then the second number will be the innovation release number essentially. 00;04;13;24 - 00;04;46;00 So, the main is the first one, the LTS number, and the second is the innovation, roughly speaking. So, it's our understanding that all of the MySQL products will follow the same release model, but not the connectors. Can you talk about that? That's that's correct. So, all the server-side products will follow the same LTS model. While on the connectors side, you are recommended to use the latest connectors that will then support all previous releases. 00;04;46;00 - 00;05;22;28 So. So when you use the latest, you can use the current release and everything older kind of thing. So that's how it works. And yeah, it's a pragmatic choice that we feel is what users want us to do is actually. So, when we see what will and what will happen with the LTS, something that I noticed is and for me maybe the most significant change is compared to what we had with the MySQL 8.0 is that in the LTS lifecycle, the downgrades and clone between different minor version will be supported, isn't it? 00;05;22;29 - 00;05;50;19 Yes, that is correct. So, this is a change from 8.0 train in 8.4 we will support upgrade and downgrade between any maintenance release like let's say 8.4.2 and 8.4.5 and you can go up and down between those both upgrade and downgrade and you can also clone in any direction between those two. 00;05;51;12 - 00;06;16;23 So that's also something that people have requested because they feel then they can more safely upgrade because there is an easy way to downgrade and so on if something is not working as they expected or something. So yes, thank you. This was really something that people were requesting. So that's great. Yeah, I can see how that's really going to help. 00;06;16;25 - 00;06;46;05 You mentioned MySQL 9.0. If a customer starts using MySQL 9.0 when it's eventually released, how long would that be officially supported? Using our new licensing model. The current plan is to have an innovation release every third month and then you can say that that is supported until the next innovation release. So, let's say if you're on 9.1, let's say that you're using innovation release the release called 9.1 and then three months later there will be a 9.2. 00;06;47;02 - 00;07;18;04 So if there is, for example, an issue that we have fixed in 9.1, it will be shaped as 9.2. So, people then need to upgrade to 9.2 to get that fix. That's essentially the model of innovation releases. So you need to go to the next innovation release to get the fix. And while for LTS, you will get every third month fixes to the stable LTS and that's how they differ, so to speak. 00;07;19;03 - 00;07;52;05 Another thing in in innovation releases, we will from time to time remove something that is has been deprecated before and this will not happen in in LTS releases. So, they are also stable in this respect. There is no removal or not anything that just critical bug fixes period. While innovation releases there is a little bit more the new features, removals and these things that then you need to follow the release notes on. 00;07;52;05 - 00;08;15;11 Yeah, thank you very much. So, I hope this will help people to understand our new model and the we are very expecting and looking forward the first LTS version of our MySQL. So, the first one will be it for next month. So, we are very happy with that. We are also looking forward to this, looking forward to see people's reaction on this. 00;08;15;19 - 00;08;34;13 Geir, thank you for joining us. We really appreciate it. Thank you very much. Thanks to both of you for having me. That's all for this episode. Thank you to our guest Geir Hoydalsvik and thank you for listening. Please join Scott and I again next time for another Inside MySQL: Sakila Speaks. That’s a wrap on this episode of Inside MySQL:

00;08;34;13 - 00;08;56;07 Sakila Speaks. Thanks for hanging out with us. If you enjoyed listening, please click subscribe to get all the latest episodes. We would also love your reviews and ratings on your podcast app. Be sure to join us for the next episode of Inside MySQL: Sakila Speaks.