> Inertia explains the current MySQL position reasonably well, a better question is how did it climb to its current position during its years of technical incompetence.
Existing, and having an better install story and windows support than PostgreSQL. When it established its dominance, it wasn't because it was the best open-source multi-user relational database in terms of spec sheet features, it was because it was the one people trying to start something could easily setup and get something running with, which quickly led to it being widely supported on shared hosts and having a large base of people with at least some experience, which then created a nice positive feedback loop to maintain its popularity.
Existing, and having an better install story and windows support than PostgreSQL. When it established its dominance, it wasn't because it was the best open-source multi-user relational database in terms of spec sheet features, it was because it was the one people trying to start something could easily setup and get something running with, which quickly led to it being widely supported on shared hosts and having a large base of people with at least some experience, which then created a nice positive feedback loop to maintain its popularity.