What's in a name?

Pedro Andrade joins Fred and Scott to talk about how MySQL's mascot was named. Pedro shares a conversation he had with Ambrose Twebaze where they discuss the competition where Sakila was given her name.

 

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Episode Transcript:

 

00;00;09;13 - 00;00;32;08 

Welcome to Inside MySQL: Sakila Speaks a podcast dedicated to all things MySQL. We bring you the latest news from the MySQL team, MySQL project updates and insightful interviews with members of the MySQL community. Sit back and enjoy as your hosts bring you the latest updates on your favorite open-source database. Let's get started! Hello! 

 

00;00;32;09 - 00;00;55;07 

Welcome to inside MySQL: Sakila Speaks, the podcast dedicated to MySQL. I am a leFred and I'm Scott Stroz. Today we are diving into something fun. Mysql’s beloved mascot Sakila the dolphin. Sakila represents more than just the logo. It's a symbol of a global community. It's open-source spirit and its dedication to efficiency and speed in the database world. 

 

00;00;55;11 - 00;01;15;24 

But what's the story behind Sakila? How did a dolphin become the face of one of the most widely used database management systems in the world? And what significance does Sakila hold for the MySQL community, and how does it inspire innovation? To learn about the name of this iconic dolphin, we have Pedro Andrade a long-time MySQl-er of 17 years. 

 

00;01;15;25 - 00;01;39;21 

So, Pedro, can you tell us how Sakila became MySQL’s mascot? Was there any particular reason behind choosing a dolphin? Yeah. Hello everyone, this is Pedro Andrade. So, the reason that the dolphin was chosen as a mascot is it represents, the database. Ease of use. So, friendliness. Right? Speed and agility. Because, as we all know, dolphins are very smart creatures. 

 

00;01;39;28 - 00;01;59;29 

So, the name Sequela as an interesting background, it was choose from a naming competition. And I think you personally know the winner. Can you share more about the story, Pedro? Sure thing. So, as you mentioned, I've been with MySQL for a long time, and I’d always been very curious about the experience of the of the person that chose the name. 

 

00;02;00;04 - 00;02;26;17 

In the early days of MySQL and through community sense, what MySQL did is they opened a worldwide contest that was called, “Named the Dolphin Contest”. And so, we had submissions from all over the world. And the way the contest went is, the winner would win a couple of T-shirts and a Palm Pilot 3C, which, for those of you that remember, that was the color Palm Pilot, which was a very advanced technology at the time. 

 

00;02;26;23 - 00;02;47;26 

So, I did track down the winner. His name is Ambrose Twebaze. It took me a long time because he's not really on social media. So, after a couple of years of digging and searching, I found him, and he is in, Eswatini. Would you say a landlocked, kingdom in Africa? I spoke to Ambrose recently. 

 

00;02;47;28 - 00;02;56;04 

And I have some, some, interesting questions for the rest of the community to learn. 

 

00;02;56;06 - 00;03;34;21 

Thank you. Thanks again for talking to us. As I mentioned, MySQL is turning 30, in 2025, so that's coming around the corner. And we wanted to just, just revisit, the particularly the, the mascot, our mascot, the dolphin, which was name is Sakila, as you know. And you, you named it. So, this goes back to it and correct me if I'm wrong, but from from what I read, the contest itself was announced in 2001, and then, the submission or the, you know, the, the final, submission was, was chosen on, on 2002. 

 

00;03;34;21 - 00;03;54;21 

Is that right? So it was in 2002. That is that sound about right when you submitted the name? Yeah. Yeah, I think it took some time, but eventually it came through email. I saw where it I was very surprised because, I mean, when you enter something, there are so many people that enter these competitions. You are not expecting anything out of it. 

 

00;03;54;21 - 00;04;14;22 

I mean, we always enter competitions, so for the best or just you do it for the sake of it. Okay, let me just do this. And, what ends up ends. And so ,I did receive after a long time, I received an email that say, no, your name was chosen as the winning. Then they asked a few questions. 

 

00;04;14;22 - 00;04;53;26 

If I could write a few things about, the name, what it means. The name. This, basically, it's from Swaziland. Now, this was it is now rebranded itself as, Eswatini. Sakila, basically, it's a traditional, I don't know, like, stick for warriors was warriors, that used so actually it's pronounced “sagila”. So I thought when I was writi