MySQL's Marten Mickos: No one can imitate our culture

Things have been quiet from MySQL over the past month or so, but today's Wall Street Journal has an awesome interview with Sun's Marten Mickos, perhaps the most quotable technology executive on the planet.

I really like how he talks through community (how to provide incentives, what to expect in terms of contributions), as well as competition. On the latter front, Marten talks through the value of leading through innovation:

MYSQL chief Marten Mickos isn't afraid his rivals in the database-software industry will ever overtake him. "Let them try," he says. "Our secret is in the way we operate our culture, and I'm convinced others cannot imitate that."...

Even if someone studied us in tiny detail, I don't think they could really match us. We've shown them our code, and nobody has been able to measure up against what we have....Even if I showed you my DNA, you wouldn't know how to become me.

Ah, Marten. I missed you! Head to the article for much more. What a great person to have in the open-source ecosystem.