El Reg reader Adam told us: "...It turns out this is for all its downloads for MySQL.com. So frustrating when you are up against a deadline."

Up against a deadline that requires you to use a new version of software that wasn't even released at the time the deadline was set?

Brave Adam, very very brave...

All the text on MySQL.com has been updated to pimp MySQL Enterprise 5.1 but where the heck are my binaries? Nowhere to be seen. The latest they can offer is a MRU (Monthly Rapid Update) of 5.0.62, despite the fact some fairly critical stuff has been fixed in 5.1-rc and row-based replication is about 3x faster for us.

Seems like paying in excess of £50,000 per year doesn't get you squat from this new alliance of Sun Microsystems and MySQL AB.

So I'm stuck running "Community Edition" (and a release candidate at that) until they get their thumbs out of their bums and either:

a) Release some binaries to the masses.

b) Do a custom build for us, as our service contract entitles us to,

but the poor support monkey shies away from when its mentioned.

Where's my coat? It's the one with ORACLE embroidered on the back.

for those that want a real free database

Anonymous coward 2, Sun provides support for PostgreSQL as well so I guess Sun is happy either way. Want some free beer or some real GPL freedom? You can get the MySQL Enterprise builds and source from non-MySQL mirrors like http://mirror.provenscaling.com/mysql/enterprise/. Where can I get the proprietary EnterpriseDB builds and source without paying EnterpriseDB?

Anonymous Coward 1, you're trying to get them to say 5.1 is ready for production use while you're having a problem that proves it's not? Logic failure. Do they listen to what you're telling them about a bug that you say is critical and not release it or listen to you begging them to release it before it's ready so you can get a hot fix?

You wouldn't be writing about speed improvements if your business is non-operational. The support monkeys must be trying to be polite to a difficult customer who is trying to get something she's not entitled to.

"What limitations apply if I use non-Enterprise binaries or non-GA Enterprise binaries such as alpha, beta, and release-candidate (gamma) binaries?

Non-Enterprise platforms do not receive Hotfixes".

http://www.mysql.com/about/legal/supportpolicies/policies-04.html

"What issues are eligible for a MySQL Enterprise HotFix?

HotFixes are emergency database server patches. The issue must be validated by MySQL Support as a Severity 1 case. The bug must not be addressed in a current MySQL Enterprise server service pack".

http://www.mysql.com/about/legal/supportpolicies/policies-03.html

"Severity 1 Issues

A Severity 1 problem represents a catastrophic problem in the customer's production systems. The customer cannot continue essential operations".

http://www.mysql.com/about/legal/supportpolicies/policies-11.html

Never trust software companies (666).

Enough Said