MySQL/MariaDB has always been a pain in the butt:

• http://sql-info.de/mysql/gotchas.html
• http://use.perl.org/use.perl.org/_Smylers/journal/34246.html
• http://use.perl.org/use.perl.org/_Ovid/journal/38546.html
• http://use.perl.org/use.perl.org/_Ovid/journal/35786.html
• http://use.perl.org/use.perl.org/_Adrian/journal/32832.html
• http://use.perl.org/use.perl.org/_davorg/journal/38549.html
• http://smylers.hates-software.com/2007/03/20/bdc3ce48.html
• http://ann.hates-software.com/2003/08/27/a34fc9e6.html
• http://hateful.hates-software.com/2006/10/19/f304fb73.html
• http://smylers.hates-software.com/2007/11/02/f0afeb66.html
• http://smylers.hates-software.com/2008/02/12/c0df67ed.html
• http://mzsanford.wordpress.com/2010/12/28/mysql-and-unicode/
• http://blogs.perl.org/users/ovid/2012/09/my-top-mysql-gripes.html
• http://www.shlomifish.org/open-source/anti/mysql/
• the DBD::mysql vs. DBD::MariaDB clusterfuck

… and still is. I've recently lost a lot of time with MariaDB 10.3 due to:

• DDL statements not running in transactions, leaving the DB in an inconsistent state
• json_object returning a string, not a nested data structure, so it won't compose
• the json type being silently downgraded to longtext

Would never recommend. Use PostgreSQL and save your sanity.