I am super excited to share one of the absolute highlights of my time at FOSDEM 2026. I had the massive honor of sitting down with a true VIP of the open-source world: Michael “Monty” Widenius, the original creator of both MySQL and MariaDB.
We hung out at the MariaDB Foundation booth to talk about the 2026 roadmap, the “entertainment” happening over at Oracle, how MariaDB handles alternative databases like TiDB, and most importantly, how young developers can land their dream jobs by contributing to open source.
Whether you are a seasoned DBA or a student looking to break into the industry, you are going to want to hear what Monty had to say.
What Is Next for MariaDB in 2026
When you are the creator of a database with roughly 400 million installations worldwide, what keeps you busy? For Monty and the MariaDB team, 2026 is all about pushing technical boundaries while welcoming new users with open arms.
Currently, Monty is heavily focused on increasing MySQL compatibility. As he pointed out with a smile, there has been a lot of “entertainment that Oracle has done the last few weeks,” which has driven a massive wave of MySQL users to look for truly open-source alternatives. MariaDB is working hard to make that one-to-one transition as frictionless as possible.
But it is not just about compatibility. Monty shared that he is personally tackling some massive projects this year. At the very top of his list: bringing Full Outer Joins and Parallel Queries to MariaDB. These are heavy-hitting features that will massively optimize complex data workloads and performance.
The Open-Source Database Landscape
I was curious to hear Monty’s thoughts on the current database landscape, particularly regarding alternative implementations built on the MySQL protocol, like TiDB.
Monty was very pragmatic about it. While these databases use similar protocols and features, he noted that “they are all different.” They are not necessarily drop-in, one-to-one replacements.
Instead of worrying about the competition, the MariaDB team is focused on their own incredible scale. With 400 million installations, Monty proudly stated that MariaDB is likely the biggest open-source database in the world, second only to the embedded database SQLite.
The biggest challenge for 2026? Simply continuing to increase adoption and ensuring that every single one of those millions of users stays happy.
How Young Talent Can Get Hired in Tech
One of the most inspiring parts of our chat was hearing about the MariaDB Foundation’s dedication to the next generation of developers.
The Foundation is currently partnering with universities to integrate open-source contributions directly into student coursework. But you do not need to be in a specific university program to take advantage of this pipeline.
I asked Monty how aspiring programmers can connect with the Foundation and show off their skills. His advice was a masterclass in career building:
“For anybody who is a programmer and wants to be able to show their talents to the world… the easiest way they can do that is to be part of some open-source project.”
Here is the exact playbook Monty shared to get noticed by MariaDB and other top tech companies:
- Head over to the MariaDB Jira (their bug and feature tracker)
- Filter for issues tagged as “beginner-friendly”
- Claim a ticket, write the code, and submit your pull request
- Collaborate with the core team to get your code merged into the source
As Monty perfectly summarized: “After you are done with lots of contributions, you will be known, and people will compete to hire you.”
This approach works beyond MariaDB. Contributing to any significant open-source project — whether it is Ansible, Kubernetes, or Terraform — builds a public track record that no resume can match.
Why This Matters for the Industry
The Oracle situation Monty referenced is worth paying attention to. When a major vendor makes licensing or governance decisions that alienate their user base, the open-source alternative absorbs that demand. We have seen this pattern repeatedly:
- CentOS to Rocky Linux / AlmaLinux
- Terraform BSL to OpenTofu
- Redis to Valkey
- And now, MySQL users increasingly evaluating MariaDB
For engineers running databases in production, MariaDB’s focus on MySQL compatibility means migration paths are getting smoother. The upcoming parallel query support is particularly relevant for teams running analytical workloads alongside transactional ones.
If you are automating database deployments with Ansible or managing database clusters on Kubernetes, MariaDB’s trajectory in 2026 is worth watching closely.
Thank You, FOSDEM and MariaDB
A massive thank you to Monty for his time, his humility, and for everything he has done and continues to do for the open-source community. It was a privilege to chat with him.
If you are a student or a developer looking to make your mark, do not wait. Jump into the MariaDB Jira today and start contributing.
What database are you currently running in your stack? Are you excited about parallel queries coming to MariaDB? Let me know in the comments below.
Catch you in the next one!
