The next release of the MyQSL database server will include a Windows installer based on an open-source toolset released by Microsoft earlier this year. The upcoming MySQL 4.1 release will, according to documentation on the group"s Web site, use the latest version of the Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) available for the Windows 2000 and XP operating systems. As part of the installation package, MySQL will make use of the Windows Installer XML (WiX) toolset, released as Microsoft"s first open-source contribution earlier this year.
The WiX toolset is currently available on the SourceForge Web site for free download, using the Open Source Initiative-approved CPL license. Microsoft has also contributed two other open-source projects: the Windows Template Library and FlexWiki. "We switched to WiX for two reasons," wrote Michael Zinner, lead developer of the MySQL GUI team. "First, it is an open-source project and second, it allows us to handle the complete Windows engineering process in a flexible way with scripts."