📊 HiddenMerit Daily · Issue 3

Focus on Database Frontiers, Practical Insights for DBAs April 29, 2026 ｜ 5 Selected Global Hot Topics

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01｜Oracle Ushers in a “New Era” for MySQL: Vector Functions Coming to Community Edition, Independent Foundation on the Table

Facing developer dissatisfaction with MySQL’s stagnant development, Oracle has finally made significant adjustments, promising to usher in a “new era” for MySQL.

Core Community Grievances:

• Code commits have dropped sharply over the past year, with even months of no new code

• Lack of development transparency, roadmap and decisions lack community participation

• New features prioritized for Enterprise Edition and HeatWave, Community Edition “left in the cold”

• New developers gravitate towards PostgreSQL, MySQL developer demographic is aging

Oracle’s “Three-Pronged” Commitment:

1. Feature Downward Migration: Bring vector functions and other previously Enterprise-only features to the Community Edition

2. Ecosystem Expansion: Provide more MySQL tools, frameworks, and connectors

3. Transparent Governance: Publish development roadmap, encourage community contributions (work logs + bug reports)

Foundation Progress: Approximately 100 signatures have been collected in support of establishing an independent MySQL Foundation, with the goal of allowing the community to guide MySQL’s development direction.

DBA Perspective This is major news worth the attention of all MySQL users. Over the past few years, many DBAs have shifted from MySQL to PostgreSQL when making technology choices, primarily because “MySQL development is too slow”. Oracle’s latest stance sends several signals:

1. Vector features entering Community Edition is a landmark event: Although MySQL 9.0’s Vector functionality was released, its practical production usability was limited. If vector similarity search capabilities are truly improved, MySQL’s competitiveness in AI application scenarios will significantly rebound.

2. An independent foundation is a double-edged sword: If the foundation is truly established and operates well, MySQL’s governance will become more open, similar to the Linux Foundation model; but if Oracle doesn’t cede control, the foundation may become an “empty shell.” DBAs are advised to pay close attention to the foundation’s actual operational details (technical committee composition, code contribution process, etc.).

3. Reality is harsh: Verbal promises are one thing, actual code commits are another. DBAs are advised to maintain “cautious optimism” — wait 6-12 months to see if there are actual feature releases and code commit recovery before betting new projects on MySQL.

One sentence summary: The MySQL community has “finally seen light,” but DBAs need to let the dust settle.

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02｜MySQL 9.7 LTS Appears at Japan OSC Conference: Oracle Shows “New Era” Results

On the same day (April 29), the MySQL team officially appeared at the Japan OSC 2026 conference, focusing on introducing new features of the MySQL 9.7 LTS release and new directions for community collaboration.

Conference Information:

• Time: April 29, 2026, 16:15-17:00 (local time)

• Speaker: Ryusuke Kajiyama, Oracle MySQL Principal Sales Consultant

• Core Content:

  • MySQL “New Policy”: Community collaboration first

  • Community Edition enhancements with a developer-first approach

  • Ecosystem improvements and roadmap transparency

  • Operational and development perspectives on MySQL 9.7 LTS

Concurrent Event: The first MySQL User Group in North Macedonia also launched on April 29, focusing on automated partition management practices.

DBA Perspective The “verbal promises” in the first news item had a “tangible action” on the same day — the MySQL team presented the “new era” vision in front of Japanese developers. This is a strategic public relations move:

1. Choosing the Japan OSC Conference: Japan is an important market for MySQL. Announcing here signals that Oracle wants to reassure the Asian developer community.

2. MySQL 9.7 LTS takes the spotlight: It’s worth noting that Oracle is promoting 9.7 LTS rather than the previous 8.4 LTS. This suggests that if MySQL is to be “revitalized,” the 9.x series will be the main battleground. DBAs are advised to start paying attention to the 9.7 LTS Release Notes and evaluate upgrade paths.

3. Automated partition management: The North Macedonia Meetup’s topic — “MySQL Partition Manager: set & forget automation for partitions” — shows that the community is already addressing DBA daily operational pain points (automated partition maintenance). This is an area where DBAs can actively contribute.

Recommendation: If your team has Japanese or European colleagues, consider attending these Meetups to ask questions directly to the MySQL team and gather first-hand information.

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03｜Oracle Database Introduces Quantum-Resistant Encryption: Preparing for “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” Attacks

In its latest technical sharing, Oracle announced that the Oracle AI Database has begun introducing Quantum-Resistant Cryptography capabilities.

Technical Background:

• Although large-scale quantum computers do not yet exist, there is a “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” attack risk

• Attackers steal encrypted data now and wait for quantum computers to mature before decrypting it

• For data that requires long-term confidentiality (e.g., government secrets, corporate core IP), this is a real threat

Oracle’s Solution:

• October 2025 RU: Initial network encryption enhancements

• January 2026 RU: Comprehensive introduction of quantum-resistant encryption capabilities

• Goal: Prepare for the post-quantum era without impacting performance, compatibility, and operational simplicity

Related Event: On April 29, 2026, Oracle held a “Database Security Office Hours – APAC” online seminar to deeply explore this topic.

DBA Perspective “Quantum-resistant encryption” sounds like science fiction, but for DBAs in specific industries, this is not a future problem, but a risk to pay attention to now:

1. Which data needs “long-term confidentiality”?

   • Government/military data (confidentiality period 10-30 years)

   • Healthcare data (patient privacy requires lifelong protection)

   • Corporate core IP (chip designs, source code, patent materials)

   • Financial transaction records (anti-money laundering data must be retained for 5-10 years)

2. What do DBAs need to do?

   • Assess whether there is any of the above “long-lifecycle sensitive data” in current databases

   • Pay attention to the release of Oracle’s January 2026 RU and understand encryption configuration changes after upgrade

   • If using other databases, inquire with vendors about their quantum-resistant encryption roadmaps

3. Real-world priority: For most internet company DBAs, this is not an urgent task. But if you work in finance, government, or healthcare, you should include this in your second half of 2026 security planning.

One sentence summary: Quantum computers are still far away, but the “harvest now, decrypt later” risk strategy is real — DBAs need to assess whether their data needs “future-proofing against decryption.”

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04｜Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Sets the Tone: Domestic Database Levels “Steadily Improving”

On April 28, the State Council Information Office held a policy press conference, where Ke Jixin, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, clearly stated: Domestic operating systems, databases, and other foundational software levels are steadily improving.

Key Data:

• Industrial software has formed a product system covering key industries

• Average daily AI token calls exceed 140 trillion, a year-over-year increase of more than 1000 times

• Key cloud service providers have built 150+ data centers in 30+ countries and regions globally

Background Interpretation: This is an official statement from MIIT on domestic foundational software, releasing a signal of continued policy support and a clear domestic-tech market space.

DBA Perspective Although this news is short, it is highly significant for DBAs in the domestic database space:

1. Policy bellwether: MIIT’s “setting the tone” indicates that domestic-tech (Xinchuang) policies will continue. For DBAs in finance, government, energy and other sectors, “domestic-tech replacement” is no longer just an option but a trend.

2. Cloud services going global accelerates: 150 data centers covering 30+ countries indicate that domestic cloud databases (such as Tencent Cloud TDSQL, Alibaba Cloud PolarDB) are accelerating their overseas expansion. If your company has overseas business, domestic databases may become one of the compliance options.

3. 1000x growth in AI token volume: This indirectly echoes the “Oracle natural language Agent” topic from Issue 2 — enterprise-grade AI applications are exploding, and no matter which database vendor you choose, “AI + database” is an unavoidable proposition.

Recommendation: If you work in industries affected by domestic-tech policies (government, finance, state-owned enterprises), DBAs should start building knowledge of domestic databases now — Dameng, OceanBase, GaussDB, TDSQL, etc. It is recommended to become familiar with at least 1-2 of them.

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05｜Azure PostgreSQL Upgrade Blocked in “West Europe” Region: The Capacity Dilemma for Cloud DBAs

Multiple users reported on Microsoft’s Q&A platform that upgrading Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server in the West Europe region was blocked, with the error message: “Upgrade unavailable due to regional capacity restrictions.”

User Experiences:

• One user reported that their database had been down for over 17 hours and they were unable to create a support ticket

• The upgrade was blocked by a “regional capacity limit,” leaving contacting customer support for alternative solutions as the only recourse

• A Microsoft engineer responded over the weekend stating “limited resources,” requiring the engineering team to handle the issue

DBA Perspective This is the “invisible risk” of cloud database operations: regional capacity restrictions.

Problem Essence:

• Cloud vendors have limited compute/storage resources in a given region

• When regional demand exceeds capacity, new resource requests (including temporary resources required for upgrade operations) are blocked

• This is not a technical failure, but a supply chain problem (chip shortages, data center construction delays, etc.)

DBA Risk Mitigation Strategies:

1. Multi-region deployment: Do not place all resources in a single region; consider cross-region primary/standby or disaster recovery setups

2. Reserved instances/capacity reservations: For critical business, prepay for resource quotas (Azure Reserved Capacity, AWS Capacity Reservation)

3. Upgrade window management: Major upgrade operations should avoid peak regional periods, and leave a 2-3 day “buffer time” in case of blockage

4. Establish alternatives: If your region is a “hot region” (like West Europe, East US), understand network latency and compliance for other available regions in advance

For DBAs currently experiencing capacity issues: The only way out is to contact customer support and ask for an explanation of “alternative solutions” — which may be a different availability zone in the same region, or switching to a nearby region. At the same time, it is recommended to report this issue to management to drive multi-region architecture transformation.

One sentence summary: The role of a cloud DBA has expanded from “managing databases” to “managing cloud resource supply chains” — capacity planning and risk mitigation must be done proactively.

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📅 Today’s Database Events Calendar

Today is April 29, 2026, with multiple database technology events happening simultaneously around the world:

DBAs are advised to selectively watch conference recordings or slides based on their own technology stack and business direction.

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Summary of This Issue

📌 Editor’s Note The most notable signal in this issue is MySQL’s “breakthrough” — Oracle has finally realized the cost of neglecting the Community Edition and is adjusting its strategy. For DBAs, this means there may be a “feature explosion” period for MySQL in the next 1-2 years, but practical results still need to wait. Suggested strategy: keep production stable on 8.4 LTS, try 9.7 LTS in development environments, and closely monitor foundation developments.

Additionally, the Azure capacity limit event reminds us that the cloud is not infinite — “resource supply chain management” is becoming a new required course for cloud DBAs.

Welcome to leave comments: If the independent MySQL Foundation is truly established, would you be willing to contribute code or documentation? See you tomorrow!