MariaDB reverses Galera removal after community backlash

After a brief controversy that highlighted tensions between MariaDB Corporation and its open source community, the company has reversed course on removing Galera Cluster from its Community Server distribution. The decision follows intense developer feedback and raises ongoing questions about the future of clustering technology in MariaDB's open source offerings.

Community pressure forces policy reversal

The controversy began when developers discovered that Galera Cluster dependencies were being quietly removed from MariaDB Community Server 12.3 builds. Federico Razzoli, director of MariaDB consultancy Vettabase, first raised the alarm on social media, noting that Galera dependencies were being stripped from binaries without commit messages or task descriptions.

"Galera is important for building highly available architectures," Razzoli explained. "The MariaDB community has reacted because this technology is essential for production deployments that require fault tolerance and scalability."

MariaDB Corporation responded quickly to the backlash. In a statement, Max Mether, co-founder and vice president for product management, acknowledged the community's concerns: "Community feedback is an important part of MariaDB, and recently, you made your voices heard regarding the inclusion of Galera Cluster in the 12.3 series... We've thoroughly considered your feedback and decided that now is not the time for a major change."

The company confirmed that MariaDB Community Server 12.3 will continue to include Galera Cluster libraries, which are licensed under GPLv2. This U-turn represents a significant victory for the open source community that has relied on Galera for database clustering capabilities.

Historical context and recent turbulence

The Galera controversy emerges against a backdrop of recent instability at MariaDB Corporation. The company, which was forked from MySQL after Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems in 2010, has experienced considerable turbulence in recent years.

In late 2022, MariaDB saw a SPAC-enabled IPO that was followed by layoffs, "going concern" warnings, and a sub-dollar share price. The company also discontinued several flagship products before being taken private again. MariaDB Foundation CEO Kaj Arnö described this period as one where "sanity" had returned to the relationship between the community and the company.

However, the Galera incident suggests that tensions may still exist beneath the surface. The acquisition of Codership Oy and its Galera technology in May 2025 appeared to be a positive development, but the subsequent attempt to remove it from Community Server raised suspicions about MariaDB's long-term commitment to open source clustering.

Industry observers weigh in

Peter Zaitsev, co-founder of database consultancy Percona, praised the community's coordinated response: "This is a good move for the community as a whole, and it shows how much impact a coordinated community can have when they speak with one voice."

However, Zaitsev and others remain concerned about the long-term implications. "What will the long-term future for Galera development as part of MariaDB be? Will the Community edition continue to get Galera updates, or will this be held in place as a way to convince people to move to other versions of MariaDB?"

These questions strike at the heart of the open source business model that MariaDB Corporation relies upon. The company offers both open source Community Server and proprietary enterprise versions, creating potential conflicts between community interests and commercial objectives.

Foundation perspective and path forward

Frederic Descamps, MariaDB Foundation community advocate, characterized the incident as a "predictable outcome of people caring about continuity." He emphasized that Galera belongs with the community server packages, stating: "A production-grade database needs a credible high-availability story, and I don't think removing long-standing capabilities from community users is the right direction."

Descamps also noted that MariaDB Corporation deserves credit for not simply forking the Galera code after acquisition, which would have been cheaper but potentially more damaging to the open source community.

Kaj Arnö, in a recent post about the Galera question, described the situation as one of "open dialogue, mutual respect, and a shared long-term interest in the MariaDB ecosystem." He characterized the resolution as a "friendly reset" in the relationship between the company and the community.

Lingering concerns and unanswered questions

Despite the U-turn, concerns remain about MariaDB's commitment to open source clustering technology. Federico Razzoli has called for explicit assurances from MariaDB Corporation, suggesting the company should post a public promise on its website stating that "our open source software will remain open."

This request reflects broader anxieties within the open source community about the sustainability of projects that are controlled by commercial entities with fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders. The Galera incident demonstrates how quickly trust can be eroded and how difficult it can be to rebuild.

As MariaDB continues to evolve, the community will likely be watching closely for any signs of similar moves that could undermine the open source foundation upon which the project was built. The company's ability to balance commercial interests with community needs will be crucial to its long-term success and the health of the MariaDB ecosystem.

The Register has contacted MariaDB for further comment on these ongoing concerns and the company's long-term strategy for Galera and other open source components.