Oracle's MySQL vs. MariaDB vs. Drizzle
I've used MySQL in the past but I have not touched it since around when Oracle bought Sun. Now that Oracle has began pushing out their own MySQL updates on the 5.x branch I've pondered the following:

There is the Oracle branch as well as two popular forks: Maria and Drizzle. I've been trying to find an objective comparison as to why I would consider one of the two forks instead of using the Oracle branch. I've also been trying to figure out what are the main proponents for each fork that make them differ from the Oracle branch.

These are some specifics that I thought of while searching:  

 - Drizzle's website says that they have re-organized the code to make it more plugin-based - what is the benefit of that?

 - Maria's website says that they have made some enhancements but I don't really understand what is so great about them.

 - Are any of Oracle's updates relevant to the common developer?
Oracle's MySQL vs. MariaDB vs. Drizzle
===

I've used MySQL in the past but I have not touched it since around when Oracle bought Sun. Now that Oracle has began pushing out their own MySQL updates on the 5.x branch I've pondered the following:

There is the Oracle branch as well as two popular forks: Maria and Drizzle. I've been trying to find an objective comparison as to why I would consider one of the two forks instead of using the Oracle branch. I've also been trying to figure out what are the main proponents for each fork that make them differ from the Oracle branch.

These are some specifics that I thought of while searching:  

 - Drizzle's website says that they have re-organized the code to make it more plugin-based - what is the benefit of that?

 - Maria's website says that they have made some enhancements but I don't really understand what is so great about them.

 - Are any of Oracle's updates relevant to the common developer?