"I would fear for MySQL, since a bunch of stuff I use depends on it. Large companies have a knack for killing stuff, you know. But since it's open source I don't have to worry."
Can someone please explain this mentality to me? I seriously don't get it. Yes, I understand that as an open-source project, anyone is free to fork it (so long as their fork also uses the GPL as its license). But that doesn't mean that anyone WILL fork it. If you have the financial means, then sure, you can hire someone to maintain the software (as long as you can find someone knowledgeable enough). And yes, that alone makes it much better than proprietary software in that regard. But so many people seem to equate open source with "I'll be able to get support for eternity", whether that support is from the vendor during the product's life or through a programmer or contractor after the vendor stops stops supporting it (or anytime, really).
As an example, think of old DOS or OS/2 apps, or anything written in ADA, COBOL, Pascal, or even x86 assembler. Can you find someone to support those? Probably, with a lot of searching. But it's a dying breed that still retains that knowledge. While the code may be available for support, it doesn't mean you can find anyone willing and able to support it.