It seems an article on Ars Technica has already compiled some defect of MySQL:

http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=92525

Another thing that reminds of PHP, the list of commands:

    mysql                       mysql_client_test_embedded  mysql_find_rows             mysqlrepair                 mysql_tzinfo_to_sql
    mysqlaccess                 mysql_config                mysql_fix_extensions        mysqlreport                 mysql_upgrade
    mysqladmin                  mysql_convert_table_format  mysql_fix_privilege_tables  mysql_secure_installation   mysql_waitpid
    mysqlanalyze                mysqld                      mysqlhotcopy                mysql_setpermission         mysql_zap
    mysqlbinlog                 mysqld_multi                mysqlimport                 mysqlshow                   
    mysqlbug                    mysqld_safe                 mysql_install_db            mysqlslap                   
    mysqlcheck                  mysqldump                   mysqlmanager                mysqltest                   
    mysql_client_test           mysqldumpslow               mysqloptimize               mysqltest_embedded  

Why the hell show we want a 'mysqldumpslow'? Is it because mysqldump is fast but wrong? And why not mysql_dump?

I have started with MySQL for my first (php) website, and to me the database was just the natural storage, I had no idea of the problems, because I didn't know that a relational database is a particular well-defined mathematical object, which asserts truths about the "world" in a manner that makes it possible to model this world safely and ask questions about it. Then I used PostgreSQL at my previous work, and discovered it all, the hard way. And PostgreSQL has (almost) always been a reliable companion taking care of the most valuable asset: the Data. Then I switched job and have to use MySQL again. I live with it, it's fine, but the difference is not benign, and I sometime wonder if the NoSQL movement is not a partly a misunderstanding and should renamed NoMySQL: when using an unreliable datastore, it is certainly better to use one that is explicitly not reliable and do not force on you the relational model while, at the same time, not giving you its strengths.