No MySQL 9.x Innovation Releases from Percona

On July 1st, 2024, Oracle launched MySQL 9.0.0, the first release in the 9.x series. This release and the following six versions (9.1.0 to 9.6.0) are designated as “Innovation Releases.” These releases are characterized by their short support lifecycles, lasting only one quarter, and their focus is on introducing new features and innovations, which may break backward compatibility and complicate rollbacks. The series will culminate with MySQL 9.7, which will be the next Long Term Support (LTS) release, expected in around two years.

This marks the second occurrence of a series of innovation releases in MySQL’s history. The first series included MySQL 8.1.0, 8.2.0, and 8.3.0, and concluded with the recent LTS release, MySQL 8.4.0.

Key observations:

1. Low Adoption of Innovation Releases
   Percona’s data from Percona Monitoring and Management (PMM) and deployment telemetry shows that the adoption rate of Innovation Releases is extremely low, barely registering in statistics and fluctuating within a 1% range.
2. Unsuitability for critical applications
   The short support lifespan of Innovation Releases makes them impractical for staging or production environments. Conversations with key Percona customers and community users confirm that stability and predictability are prioritized over new features. Users generally prefer to evaluate innovations when considering significant upgrades.
3. Lack of interest from Percona customers
   An experiment with Percona XtraDB Cluster 8.1, 8.2, and 8.3, which were not publicly released, did not result in customer inquiries. The only feedback received was regarding the release of Percona XtraDB Cluster 8.4.

Planned actions:

After careful consideration, we have decided not to release Percona Server for MySQL, Percona XtraBackup, and Percona XtraDB Cluster for any of the 9.x Innovation Releases. Instead, we will focus on enhancing the stability and quality of our codebase. We are committed to releasing these products with the next LTS version, MySQL 9.7.0, and will continue to provide minor releases for 8.4.x, 8.0.x, and 5.7.x as part of our post-EOL program for MySQL 5.7.

We welcome feedback on this decision. Please share your thoughts on the Percona Community Forum, and we will carefully consider all input.