In October, Oracle bought into Open Source through its acquisition of InnoDB, now its gone further and on Tuesday it bought open-source database company Sleepycat for an undisclosed sum, marking another step by the company known for its proprietary database software to expand its open-source offerings, which are typically lower cost.

Privately held Sleepycat was founded in 1996 by UC Berkeley researchers Margo Seltzer and Keith Bostic. The company has not received any venture capital funding and has been profitable since its inception.

Sleepycat has adopted a hybrid model with its embedded database as it offers both an open-source and a proprietary option to its customers. While proprietary or closed-source software can be bought for an expensive license fee, the source code in open-source software is freely available, and vendors usually charge maintenance fees to customers.

An embedded database like Berkeley DB resides within business applications, making it unnecessary for customers to separately buy databases. The embedded database maintains itself and does not require a database administrator, resulting in cost savings on maintenance and licenses.

Source: 1Prashanth RaiTag(s):Oracle, Open+Source