Two Sun Micro senior execs at MySQL database unit leaving

BOSTON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Business computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc (JAVA.O) said on Friday that two top executives with its mySQL open-source database unit are leaving the company.

Marten Mickos, a senior vice president who was chief executive of MySQL before Sun bought his company for about $1 billion last year, will depart as Sun eliminates his position, said company spokeswoman Dana Lengkeek.

Sun has merged the MySQL group with another software division and named another executive to run it, she said.

Mickos could not be reached for comment. In a statement provided by Sun he said that he was leaving for personal reasons.

"I love being the top policymaker, building new things," Mickos said.

Meanwhile MySQL founder Monty Widenius, one of the most respected developers of open-source software, said on his personal blog on Thursday that he was leaving because of differences in opinion with Sun's management over development of the open-source database.

Open-source software refers to computer programs whose code is widely available for download, allowing developers around the world to easily modify it.

While the programs are generally available at no cost, companies like Sun generate revenue from open-source software by selling services such as technical support to businesses.

"Sun is walking a fine line between developing an open-source offering and running a commercial business," Cross Research analyst Shannon Cross said. "You have a company trying to make money off of open source, while trying to control more than the open source community would like."

Widenius said that Sun had not done enough to make it easy for programmers to access the code behind the MySQL database and offer up improvements to it.

"Sun has been considering opening up the server development, but the pace has been too slow," he said.

Company spokeswoman Dana Lengkeek declined to comment on Widenius' remarks.

The MySQL database is widely used to run Web sites, including some of the world's biggest ones. Oracle Corp (ORCL.O), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and International Business Machines (IBM.N) sell competing products.

Sun also uses MySQL to promote sales of its business computers, bundling the software with its hardware. (Reporting by Jim Finkle and Anupreeta Das; editing by Carol Bishopric)