[17] MySQL works on many system platforms, including AIX, BSDi, FreeBSD, HP-UX, ArcaOS, eComStation, IBM i, IRIX, Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, NetBSD, Novell NetWare, OpenBSD, OpenSolaris, OS/2 Warp, QNX, Oracle Solaris, Symbian, SunOS, SCO OpenServer, SCO UnixWare, Sanos and Tru64.

It was initially created for personal usage from mSQL based on the low-level language ISAM, which the creators considered too slow and inflexible.

[24] Additional milestones in MySQL development included: Work on version 6 stopped after the Sun Microsystems acquisition.

[72] On 15 June 2001, NuSphere sued MySQL AB, TcX DataKonsult AB and its original authors Michael ("Monty") Widenius and David Axmark in U.S. District Court in Boston for "breach of contract, tortious interference with third party contracts and relationships and unfair competition".

[73][74] In 2002, MySQL AB sued Progress NuSphere for copyright and trademark infringement in United States district court.

[75] After a preliminary hearing before Judge Patti Saris on 27 February 2002, the parties entered settlement talks and eventually settled.

[76] After the hearing, FSF commented that "Judge Saris made clear that she sees the GNU GPL to be an enforceable and binding license.

"[77] In October 2005, Oracle Corporation acquired Innobase OY, the Finnish company that developed the third-party InnoDB storage engine that allows MySQL to provide such functionality as transactions and foreign keys.

After the acquisition, an Oracle press release mentioned that the contracts that make the company's software available to MySQL AB would be due for renewal (and presumably renegotiation) some time in 2006.

[82] In April 2009, Oracle Corporation entered into an agreement to purchase Sun Microsystems,[83] then owners of MySQL copyright and trademark.

[91] In January 2010, before Oracle's acquisition of MySQL AB, Monty Widenius started a GPL-only fork, MariaDB.

When using some storage engines other than the default of InnoDB, MySQL does not comply with the full SQL standard for some of the implemented functionality, including foreign key references.

On most Linux distributions, the package management system can download and install MySQL with minimal effort, though further configuration is often required to adjust security and optimization settings.

Though MySQL began as a low-end alternative to more powerful proprietary databases, it has gradually evolved to support higher-scale needs as well.

It is still most commonly used in small to medium scale single-server deployments, either as a component in a LAMP-based web application or as a standalone database server.

Much of MySQL's appeal originates in its relative simplicity and ease of use, which is enabled by an ecosystem of open source tools such as phpMyAdmin.

In the medium range, MySQL can be scaled by deploying it on more powerful hardware, such as a multi-processor server with gigabytes of memory.

Third-party proprietary and free graphical administration applications (or "front ends") are available that integrate with MySQL and enable users to work with database structure and data visually.

[127] Percona Toolkit can be used to prove replication is working correctly, fix corrupted data, automate repetitive tasks, and speed up servers.

Percona Toolkit is included with several Linux distributions such as CentOS and Debian, and packages are available for Fedora and Ubuntu as well.