How to Create an Open Source and Profitable System Like TiDB

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Note:
This topic has been translated from a Chinese forum by GPT and might contain errors.

Original topic: 如何做一个像tidb一样开源并赚钱的系统

| username: tidb狂热爱好者

Today, I looked at the three basic value principles of commercialization:

  1. Customer Intimacy

  2. Product Innovation

  3. Operational Excellence

  4. Customer Intimacy
    Let’s discuss whether OceanBase can become the next TiDB from three aspects. TiDB offers refreshments at every conference, and both online and offline interactions are frequent. There is a lot of interaction on forums and WeChat. However, when I attended OceanBase’s training sessions, I only saw the training without any refreshments, and the WeChat group was not active.

  5. Product Innovation
    The performance of OceanBase software is also very good, but its smallest shard is a partition. The reason TiDB became popular is that it replaces sharding. Do you think requiring users to consider partition keys adds to their mental burden?

  6. Operational Excellence
    TiDB has been localized and is on the bank’s list. TiDB vendors maintain it themselves, and it is also sold on the public cloud of AWS abroad. OceanBase should also be sold on the cloud, but whether OB can enter AWS is another matter.

That day, Dongxu said that making a commercial open-source software is very simple. It requires a sufficiently good open-source code to start, which OceanBase has. Secondly, it needs to find a profitable entry point. For example, TiDB’s serverless approach is very good. Automq uses architectural innovation to act as a middleman and make a profit by redesigning AWS’s Kafka and selling it at a lower price to attract Kafka users. TiDB also attracts AWS Aurora users with a lower price. Essentially, these two companies are doing the same thing and have succeeded. However, OceanBase was born in Alibaba Cloud. Success and failure both come from the same source. Whether AWS will allow it into the cloud market is hard to say. I hope OceanBase finds another open-source path.

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| username: xiaoqiao | Original post link

:100: :100:

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| username: 像风一样的男子 | Original post link

Would you dare to post this in the OB community?

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| username: 舞动梦灵 | Original post link

It feels like OB is a bit self-promotional because it is from Alibaba, and it seems somewhat like an internal tool. Ordinary companies rarely use OB. Most still use TiDB.

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| username: mono | Original post link

Each has its own characteristics. There’s no need to criticize each other!

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| username: tidb狂热爱好者 | Original post link

It’s not about whether you dare to post or not, it’s about whether people are tolerant enough to allow it. The Chinese internet has become as competitive as a vegetable market. I’m already using Meituan to buy groceries.

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| username: tidb狂热爱好者 | Original post link

What else do you think BAT can’t do? OB is inviting local DBAs to dinner every week, encroaching aggressively. :+1:

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| username: 像风一样的男子 | Original post link

I’m afraid you’ll get kicked out if you go.

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| username: DBAER | Original post link

Each has its own characteristics.

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| username: 不想干活 | Original post link

There are too many databases nowadays.

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| username: 柴米油酱 | Original post link

OB is quite complex in various aspects; personally, I feel that PB will develop better.

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| username: zhaokede | Original post link

Let’s learn.

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| username: tidb狂热爱好者 | Original post link

Whether OB is good or not, let the market decide.

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| username: 随缘天空 | Original post link

What everyone says is good is truly good, it must withstand the test of the market.

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| username: TiDBer_JUi6UvZm | Original post link

Don’t worry about OceanBase, they have Ant Financial’s business and a wealthy backer.

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| username: TiDBer_JUi6UvZm | Original post link

The division is very severe now.

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| username: 呢莫不爱吃鱼 | Original post link

:+1: :+1: :+1:

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| username: Kongdom | Original post link

:+1::+1::+1:

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| username: shigp_TIDBER | Original post link

It’s just a difference in marketing strategies.

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| username: forever | Original post link

OB is a bit arrogant :grinning: