Hello, I am writing a server application that will use a database server, my question is: Is there any big competitors to MySQL as free (or almost free) database servers on Linux? If so, do you know of anyone that supports stored procedures? Thanks, Jens

PostgresSQL is another free database server. It is a bit more scaleable than MySQL, but you do take a slight performance hit. Other than those two, I don''t know of any more free ones. Good Luck.
Kevin

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kevin@mayday-anime.com
http://dainteractive.mayday-anime.com

Completely off-topic, but what does MySQL and PostgresSQL stand for or where did their names come from? Also, I know what SQL is, so just explain the prefixes

The prefixes are exactly that - nomenclature differentiations. MySQL and PostgresSQL are two SQL implementations. However, you can''t use the name "SQL", so you call your product "SQL Server" or "Oracle" or "MySQL" or whatever.

Read the PostgresSQL history here, and find out how the name came about. Both Postgres and MySQL are commercially supported database servers, the latter by MySQL AB, a Swedish company founded by the MySQL developers. Check out their website for detailed info.