Why Does CentOS 7 Want To Install Mariadb Instead Of Mysql ?

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Hey all,

I just got around to trying out CentOS 7. And for some reason when I
attempt to install mysql-server, instead I’m offered mariadb? I’m using epel and remi as my repos.

[root@web1:/etc/yum.repos.d] #cat /etc/redhat-release Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 7.0 (Maipo)

[root@web1:/etc/yum.repos.d] #yum repolist Loaded plugins: amazon-id, rhui-lb repo id repo name status epel/x86_64 Extra Packages for Enter
5,610
remi Les RPM de remi pour Ent
1,005
remi-php56 Les RPM de remi de PHP 5
227
rhui-REGION-client-config-server-7/x86_64 Red Hat Update Infrastru
2
rhui-REGION-rhel-server-optional/7Server/x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4,360
rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases/7Server/x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4,718
rhui-REGION-rhel-server-rh-common/7Server/x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9
repolist: 15,931

[root@web1:/etc/yum.repos.d] #yum install mysql-server Loaded plugins: amazon-id, rhui-lb Resolving Dependencies
……

Dependencies Resolved

=============================================================================== Package Arch Version Repository Size
===============================================================================Installing:
mariadb-galera-server
x86_64 1:5.5.37-2.el7 epel
11 M
Installing for dependencies:
boost-program-options
x86_64 1.53.0-18.el7 rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases
154 k galera x86_64 25.3.5-7.el7 epel
1.1 M
libaio x86_64 0.3.109-12.el7 rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases
24 k mariadb x86_64 1:5.5.37-1.el7_0 rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases
9.0 M
mariadb-galera-common
x86_64 1:5.5.37-2.el7 epel
212 k perl-Compress-Raw-Bzip2
x86_64 2.061-3.el7 rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases
32 k perl-Compress-Raw-Zlib
x86_64 1:2.061-4.el7 rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases
57 k perl-DBD-MySQL x86_64 4.023-5.el7 rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases
140 k perl-DBI x86_64 1.627-4.el7 rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases
802 k perl-IO-Compress
noarch 2.061-2.el7 rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases
260 k perl-Net-Daemon noarch 0.48-5.el7 rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases
51 k perl-PlRPC noarch 0.2020-14.el7 rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases
36 k

Transaction Summary
===============================================================================Install 1 Package (+12 Dependent packages)

Total download size: 23 M
Installed size: 114 M
Is this ok [y/d/N]:

I don’t know what you think, but this is just weird to me. Why on earth would CentOS 7 be trying to get me to install a database that I don’t really want instead of MySQL? Nothing against mariadb. It’s just that I
haven’t tried it yet, and don’t have a real interest to.

Thanks Tim

4 thoughts on - Why Does CentOS 7 Want To Install Mariadb Instead Of Mysql ?

  • Hi,

    This is a similar move with replacing OpenOffice (back then also under the Oracle umbrella) with LibreOFfice. Replace product owned by evil corporation with the true open source alternative (which happens to be developed by the original devs of MySQL!); this may not be RH’s main reason, but it’s how I see it.

    For one I totally support this move and I was a bit afraid RHEL7 wouldn’t be released in time to incorporate this change.

    You should use MariaDB without fear, it should be the same thing and replaces MySQL gracefully.

  • There are concerns in the wider open source community about Oracle’s long-term plans for MySQL. I also imagine there is some concern from RedHat that Oracle is trying to move in to RedHat’s space with Oracle Linux.

    Questions about non-CentOS repos should probably be directed to lists for those repos; CentOS has no official authority over EPEL (I am not familiar with remi).

    If MariaDB is coming from EPEL, as suggested by your yum output, then CentOS is not trying to get you to do anything. But I believe that MariaDB is also in core CentOS. Perhaps RH does not have an alias for mysql-server but EPEL does?

    MariaDB should be a drop-in replacement for MySQL. If you have concerns about Oracle and MySQL you should seriously consider trying MariaDB. You may decide against it, of course, but at least you’ll have made a technical decision instead of a knee-jerk one. (I do still find links that conflate MySQL and MariaDB, which is unfortunate.)

    –keith

  • The short answer is because RH chose to use mariadb instead of MySQL in EL7. As others have said, this is similar to the openoffice->libreoffice switch. There should be very minimal (if any at all) difference in functionality.

  • Mariadb replaces mysql in RHEL-7 (and also Fedora 19), so it also replaces mysql in CentOS-7.

    yum install mariadb-server should be used to get the default mariadb server from the distro.