By Apurba Sen
Publication Date: 2026-01-27 08:17:00
A production-proven Oracle sorting algorithm with a claimed 5x performance improvement is now in the public domain, allowing MySQL, PostgreSQL and other open source databases to freely adopt and accelerate performance without architectural changes.
An expired Oracle patent has opened the door for open source databases to freely adopt a powerful sorting algorithm previously subject to intellectual property restrictions. Patent US7680791B2, which covers a fast method for sorting database keys, is now in the public domain and removes licensing barriers for open source implementations.
The algorithm, known informally as “Orasort,” was invented by Mark Callaghan during his time at Oracle and originally shipped with Oracle Database 10gR2. It is designed to speed up sorting workloads with similar keys with common prefixes – a common scenario in…
