Experimenting with MariaDB, Firebird and CockroachDB Support in Openfire

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I have recently started experimenting with adding support for three additional databases in Openfire: MariaDB, Firebird and CockroachDB.

This work is still exploratory. Before committing to this direction, I would like to get a better understanding of whether this is actually valuable to the Openfire community.

I have prepared initial pull requests for each database:

These are not production-ready, but intended to validate feasibility and surface any obvious issues.

Why these databases?

MariaDB is widely used as a drop-in replacement for MySQL. Although Openfire supports MySQL, MariaDB is not explicitly treated as a first-class option. Given how often it is used in practice, formal support could provide more confidence for administrators.

Firebird represents a more niche but still relevant ecosystem. It is commonly found in long-lived, on-premise systems where changing the database is not realistic. Supporting it could make Openfire easier to adopt in those environments.

CockroachDB targets modern, distributed deployments. With its PostgreSQL compatibility and focus on resilience and scalability, it could make Openfire more attractive for cloud-native and multi-region setups.

Trade-offs

Supporting additional databases comes with a cost: more code paths, more testing, and more long-term maintenance. The key question is whether the added flexibility justifies that complexity.

Feedback wanted

Before taking this further, I would really appreciate feedback from the community:

Are you using (or considering) MariaDB, Firebird or CockroachDB with Openfire? Would official support influence your deployment decisions? Do you see this as valuable, or as unnecessary complexity?

Please share your thoughts on the pull requests or through the usual community channels!

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