Slashdot Mirror
U.S. Attempts to Block Oracle Bid for PeopleSoft
AliasF97 writes "Thought you all might be interested in this story about the U.S. government attempting to block Oracle's bid for PeopleSoft via a civil anti-trust lawsuit. Seems to me that the courts are going to have their work cut out for them on this one. Also, the photo of Ellison is kind of comical. If you were to throw a black cape and a tall hat on him, he could be a circus magician."
So the government wants to cock block people. Soft.
--Kevin
I will comment depending on whether Slashdot is traditionally good to ORCL or not.
I know what to comment if I see MSFT in the article!
All these corporate aggressive takeovers suck.
I'm pretty sure the rest of the world doesn't have them too.
Visit my weblog to find out how interesting and sexy I am.
Can't they concentrate on microsoft instead? :P
http://www.golala.com/forums/index.php?mforum=trol ltalk&act=idx
Antitrust laws should receive an award for Dumbest Idea Put into Practice by Politicians. If it weren't for the damage they do, they would be a hilarious example of government stupidity. Let me explain.
a ws --A_Joke.shtml
The first, obvious, problem is that these laws are intended to prevent monopolies. A monopoly is a legal restriction on who can sell a product or service. Now, the postal service is a monopoly because private companies are not allowed to compete in the shipping and delivery of first class mail. So here's the funny part: the government is responsible for enforcing the antitrust laws. Yup! The same government that created one of the most famous of all monopolies and enforces it by preventing competition. Not a very useful law.
You're not laughing.
Of course, the antitrust laws are only used against private companies, companies that are doing well for themselves and their customers. And consumers presumably need no protection from the monopoly that is the United States Postal Service. So the government, under the guise of protecting the consumer, destroys or hobbles the best producers. If it weren't so common for government schemes to backfire completely, you'd probably think this was funny too.
It gets better. The antitrust laws are used against companies that practice "anticompetitive practices." What counts as "anticompetitive?" Anything aimed at doing better than your competition. In other words, anything that's competitive. So the mere act of competing is considered anticompetitive. Funny yet?
Well, here's my last and favorite part. Even assuming that the government is right about everything (I know it's hard...just pretend), the laws are still worthless. The government assumes that if a single company becomes the sole producer in a market, they might jack up the price of their product, hurting the little guy. If an energy company jacks up its price by a hundredfold, what would the little guy do? The poor, poor little guy. To prevent this, they use the antitrust laws to beat down any producer who looks like he might take over. In other words, any producer who provides more value or lower cost to his customers.
Now, the main reason Objectivists dislike these laws is because they're a blatant initiation of force. By forcing companies to act in particular ways beyond simple non-coercion, the government is abandoning the principle of property rights when it comes to companies. In the name of helping the consumer, they enslave the producers, particularly the best of them.
So here's the punch-line. If a single producer jacking up his price is really the problem they're trying to solve, and given that they don't care about property rights in the slightest, why not wait until a single producer actually does do that? That's right. If they're going to trample rights, why not just wait until the "bad" thing has actually happened? By their own standards, the antitrust laws are useless.
Antitrust laws are stupid, evil, and worthless by anyone's standards. Maybe if we tell the politicians we get the joke, they'll take them away.
http://solohq.com/Articles/Rowlands/Antitrust_L
Trolltalk XP .
---
The Revolution has arrived...
Oracle == Bad
PeopleSoft == Good
US == Bad.
So, this is bad.
"said the combination of Oracle and PeopleSoft would hurt competition in the market for software sold to large businesses."
So they would hurt large businesses... right and I am buying that microsoft not offering patches helps businesses.
30% Troll, 50% Underrated, 10% Interesting
Score:5, Troll
Oracle is already too big for its own good. Finally the US gov't is doing something right.
..Larry just looks like that.
Last summer I've been on a summer trip with him on his curreny yacht and really - he just looks like that!
His picture makes him look like "the rock". The caption under the picture should say something like "can you smell what I'm cookin".....
Why isn't the /. crowd upset about this madman?
*boggle*
If you were to throw a black cape and a tall hat on him, he could be a circus magician. Now, if you but a black cape and stovepipe hat on him, he'd look exactly like Snidely Whiplash
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
The Pyramids
The Golden Age of Athens
Rome, 117 AD
The Renaissance
The Enlightenment
Mel Gibson's "The Passion"
and now,
Trolltalk XP
Better than Gay5.
Better than 20721.
Better than fags-r-us.
Much, much better than adequacy.
A new hope. A new community. A new place for trolls to share their craft.
Trolltalk XP
Better than any trolltalk. EVAR
Join founder Amsterdam Vallon in what is surely to be the most vibrant and creative community endeavor of the 21st century.
Where's the proof? I think before the feds stomp in to throw their weight around in the business arena, they better have a damn good reason they're spending my tax dollars to mess with the free market. And they'd better be prepared to prove it.
Since the threat of takeover looms until the case is resolved, or they drop their takeover bid, Oracle gets 'vaporware' benefits from having it out there, since long-term support for Peoplesoft products is threatened by the takeover, making potential customers wary of making a decision to buy now.
Also, the photo of Ellison is kind of comical. If you were to throw a black cape and a tall hat on him, he could be a circus magician.
A circus magician...with a net worth of about $15 billion.
This space intentionally left blank.
Maybe Larry doesn't contribute enough towards ... uh .. certain funding. Then again, maybe PeopleSoft has connections.
After the spying on the UN scandals in the news this morning my head is swimming.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I'm glad to see this! The Justice Department decision may have come after a big campaign from PeopleSoft, but that doesn't mean that blocking it is a bad thing for consumers. Working on Oracle Applications is like working in a gold mine: you've got to sift through 20 tons of mud to get 6 ounces of gold. Oracle needs healthy competition, and it could become a monopoly. I'd hate to see it become the the Microsoft of the ERP market.
Orcl - 13.27 down .01 .35
PSFt - 21.78 down
I'm going to make a prediction that because of this the news, Psft's prices are going to go up and Orcl will go down.
PeopleSoft has been fighting this tooth and nail. They actually seem like they want the keep the company. As opposed to just wanting to cash out and saying screw the people.
From this prespective, it seems like a Corporation is stucking UP to the Big Guy, instead of sticking it TO the little guy.
I have to completely agree here. Microsoft is encroaching more and more on antitrust, and the US courts do nothing to stop them.
Oracle isn't anywhere near monopoly, although they are a very strong database vendor, with probably one of the best supported database systems written, but they are competed against by everyone from Microsoft (which, btw is integrating their database engine into the OS), to us open source developers... The US Courts really need to pick their priorities better..
"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
Ellison == Hans Gruber
Ellison has always creeped me out. And not in a good way. Kinda like Gates does.
The ratio of people to cake is too big
This shouldnt happen, but for different reasons (other then I'm working with PSoft at my uni, but anyway).
Ellison and his company bungled this one big time. They badmouthed the company, and on Larry King Live, Oracle openly stated that they would kill off the PS product line after the take over (besides the kill clause in their constitution which they didnt research, it was just a bad PR move). With Sparky being the job runner in earlier PeopleSoft releases, Conway made an interesting analogy that they were going to shoot his dog, and I can remember at the 2003 Peoplesoft Conference in the fall that Conway walked out on stage with his dog (both wearing a bullet proof vest), and proclaimed that he would not let his dog be shot and the crowd went wild.
This deal was just destined not to happen after Oracle's management bungled it. Read over at itmanagersjournal for an interesting history lesson at why they bungled it.
-- Page
We don't need an "overrated" so much as we need a "you completely missed the parent's point, dumbass..."
...and I'll say it again. Ellison looks exactly like what you'd expect Satan to look like. All he needs is to add some horns.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
(this was submitted as a slashdot article but no luck so far...) Yes, all you mother fucking gay niggers out there... freshmeat.net will now endorse your local rallys and political campaigns. Read more here. All that remains to be known is whether or not Freshmeat will partner with the Goatse.cx guys. We await more new with baited breath!
Also, the photo of Ellison is kind of comical. If you were to throw a black cape and a tall hat on him, he could be a circus magician.
After recent court action regarding a distro from France, would it be legal for us to say he might be compared to M@ndr@ke the Magician in appearance?
So how many of you read the article just to see Ellison's photo?
I'll be honest. I did.
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
The government uses a lot of PeopleSoft. The Oracle/PeopleSoft merger would hurt them.
BTW There's no such thing as the "free market".
I work for a major university in California. We're currently implenting Peoplesoft's Student Administration product. (Which is a giant piece of crap BTW, but it's better than other products out there. I wish we had developed our own solution.) If Oracle buys out Peoplesoft, we would have to spend millions to get a new product. (We don't believe Larry when he says that Oracle will continue to support Peoplesoft's products.) If you consider that this software is used by a large number of schools in the US, you can figure out that this will be a HUGE expense (Hundreds of millions of dollars) for all these schools to switch to some new product in a few years. Who will pay this cost? You will. Either in school bonds or higher student fees. Larry ain't gonna pay for it. He's got to pay for his jet fuel.
"You know Myra, some people might think you're cute. But me, I think you're one very large baked potato."
If you were to throw a black cape and a tall hat on him, he could be a circus magician.
No no no. If he was a circus magician, then Oracle's products would be affordable.
He's clearly a Vegas Magician. Same act, but the ticket costs $120 instead of $6.
"Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
Off topic?!
No kidding... Interesting the moderation on this one. Even the main post was discussing Larry after all.
All well... funny stuff
He always looks comical to me. Like some kind of CEO-bot from the year 4000. I keep expecting his face shield to spring off to reveal metal and LEDs and servomotors. Either that or he gets a scratch on his cheek which reveals that his facial hair is actually painted on.
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
This has been bugging me for a while now, and all the articles and things I've read seem to think it's a given.
WTF does peoplesoft do? Software vendor? What software?
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
...who is also widely considered to be a complete nutcase and space-shot, with little credibility. He may be worth $15B, but who gets more press? He's widely ignored, because many concepts he's tried to champion have not just failed, they've imploded before they even left the launch pad. The whole thin-client netpc is a great example.
He's just too goddamned impressed with himself, and the picture is a perfect example of that attitude, and I'm sure it was selected(or provided) for that reason. The comparison to The Rock was perfect. Like Trump, Gates, Jobs, Fiorina- any time the focus shifts from someone's talents and qualifications to their personality, you've got yourselves a genuine cult figure and some serious problems. Things are all happy-shiny while the money's pouring in...but when the -water- starts leaking in, everyone's too busy looking at how great Master is to bail, and often even when the water's up to their necks they don't realize it's really time to mutiny, or jump ship altogether. One man or woman does not make an organization, and many a corporation has discovered the dangers of simply rubber-stamping and worshipping a central figure. Boards, VP's, etc all exist exactly to prevent this sort of thing.
Frankly, what amazes me the most is that there isn't a massive explosion when he and Steve Jobs are in the same room at Apple board meetings- Steve's Reality Distortion Field meets the Ellison Ego Field.
Lastly, never confuse wealth with success. Some of the world's richest people are miserable failures as human beings. I could name a dozen people I respect far more than Ellison, or any executive officer of any corporation.
Please help metamoderate.
"...that perhaps Henry Ford, A&P Grocers, and even Oracle and PeopleSoft got where they are because they satisfied customers better than their competetitors."
A problem the sex industry doesn't have.
Looks like someone forgot to grease the palms of big brother with a couple of stock certificates, egold, paypal payments, payola. Silly Ellison, when will you learn to follow others' lead to get what you want.
MoFscker
Dude, in case no one told you, Larry Ellison is the devil . Ask anyone who works there ;-)
"Also, the photo of Ellison is kind of comical. If you were to throw a black cape and a tall hat on him, he could be a circus magician."
Can you SMELL what Larry Ellison is COOKIN*' ?!!
*single eyebrow shoots up
Do a little every day, or you're a bum. This is something my grandmother told my father when he was courting my mother. He showed up unshaven and she did not approve.
That's not Larry, it this with a beard!!
Fuck ThE Baby Tops responsibility
I, for one, welcome our new Linux Dog Overlords.
Actually he kinda looks like Hank Scorpion, err Scorpio.
I'm a PeopleSoft employee, and am glad I can stop practicing my burger flipping skills.
Vonal Declosion
so now all thats gonna be left is oracle, mssql, postgresql, and mysql
somtings odd about this
Oracle has made it clear their plan is to take Peoplesoft apart and get access to their customer base for Oracle software, phasing out Peoplesoft entirely. They basically want to buy Peoplesoft to eliminate a competitor, leaving the market to Oracle and SAS (the European gorilla in the field). This is not good for Peoplesoft or Peoplesoft customers (and there are a *lot* of them out there) or the market in general. This is only good for Oracle (duh). Many hear complain about Microsoft -- well, do you want another Microsoft in the tech field? Larry Ellison does. The US Government does not. By the way, the Peoplesoft stock price going down instead of jumping to 26 (the Oracle bid) says what the market thinks about the takeover happening.
Professor of Astronomy, Author of Spider Star & Star Dragon (Tor)
Be honest. You did.
Oracle's database product not withstanding, neither product is worth worrying about.
While they do have a large amount of market and $$, both products are dismal.
They are overbloated, expensive, and hard to manage. After seeing implementations from both prodcuts.. I would prefer SAP or something...
How either of them have survived, is beyond me.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
The Post office IS a monopoly. No one is allowed to send mail under $0.50 to post boxes. Not because they won't be able to compete, but because the government says so. Just because it's not a necessarily 'evil' monopoly, its ineffeciencies justify its liquidation.
The USPS owns those mailboxes. Other companies are more than welcome to convince people to install separate boxes for the competitive service if they want to. Newspapers do this in some places, and Mailboxes Etc. (now "The UPS Store") has its own PO box substitutes in its stores. The problem is convincing enough people to set up their own boxes, hire enough non-USPS mailmen to get all the mail sorted and delivered, and keep it cheaper than the USPS can do it at. There's no laws saying you can't do this, as far as I know. But undercutting the USPS just isn't feasible. The underlying infrastructure of the US Post Office is too big and efficient to compete with. That's why you don't see competitors to the USPS. FedEx and UPS sort of compete, but they're smart enough to realize that you can't do it too well with everyday mail.
Oh! yeah, you mean that postgres clone... shure!... who cares anyhow?
NO SIG
He looks sleazy, like he thinks everyone wants to suck his not chicken. Arogant and obnoxious probably go hand in hand with the anally retentive beard trim.
The way I see it, at least one good thing could come out of this. If Oracle and Peoplesoft merge, you can save money on certifications. Just think, they could all merge together into Micro-People-Orcl-soft and then maybe there'd be just ONE BIG TEST. And we could all run Linux instead.
Just my $0.55 (US inflation, 1774-2008, for $0.02)
Played the part of Hank Scorpio
I totally agree, we should let business operate unhindered by stupid government laws and regulations and other red tape. In fact we should get rid of the government. Private enterprise could do a much better job. The country would be much better off if the Mafia or the Hell's Angels ran things.
Seriously though, the makers of a documentary called "The Corporation" make a pretty good arguement that corporations are psychopathic. Not amoral (like a rock). Psychopathic (like Ted Bundy). I feel the need of some protection from them just as I feel the need of protection from the worst excesses of the government. That's why we have a democracy.
Its gay pornography!
....!
I am at work in a public computer lab ASSHOLE!
Lucky I do not know where you live. If I get fired
http://saveie6.com/
Please, some people are at work (or just plain don't want to see that) so at least warn people when you post a link like that. Don't mean to come across as a jerk, but it is sensitive material you're passing along (pun intended... but only after I thought about it.)
I work for a company that is in the throws of implementing PeopleSoft. When I first heard of the takeover bid from Oracle I was unhappy. (We would finish the implementation of PeopleSoft only to have to do it again with Oracle.) Now that I know PeopleSoft a little better, I no longer care. As far as I am concerned, PeopleSoft will milk the market for all its worth and provide as little in return as possible. In terms of business practices, predatary pricing is the rule at both Oracle and PeopleSoft. Both companies are basically thieves. Once you're locked in with one of these vendors you will pay ... and pay... and pay.
The courts have a public perception problem with the indecisive nature on the MS anti-trust issue; they have deemed MS a monopoly but have no proper reparations in response. There is partial resigning that it is much easier to limit the creation of a monopoly through merger/acquisition blocking. MS was an already established monopoly when antitrust actions were late in being initiated. chris
Mods (I had mod status, but I already posted a comment on this board), please mod parent down. It's adult content, with no humor or warning. Parent is trolling, not being funny. And, more seriously, like others have stated - people read slashdot at work, and can get in serious trouble for that content.
--
http://nemilar.net - Not your grandmother's soup kitchen
Perhaps, a gay circus magician?
I used to be good friends with Larry at one time, and I can tell you as a matter of fact that he was a circus magician in his early twenties. He then went off to do this technology thing leaving me alone to clean up the monkey dung.
Isn't this the same guys that wanted to put a chip in everyones hand or something?
I fail to understand why the government has to butt into a private acquisition.If it was a govt firm being overshadowed or intimidated into selling out , it would have made sense.
If a company can afford to buy out another company there seems to be no logical reasoning for the govt to step into the matter.This means that with anti trust laws the govt can curb the growth of any company be it MS or Oracle or any power hungry firm which beats the whole idea of freedom of uhmm..whatever.
Besides Oracle does have the right to buy out anyone as long as they offer the right amount of $$!
Lord of the Binges.
..but I did LATFP
Why did the US approve of Microsoft acquiring Connectix? Must be that Oracle isn't as big as Microsoft, so they have to play by the rules.
Actually, Larry Ellison reminded me of a dark demon after some little monk kid.
That, or some James Bond villain, named "Zodiac" or something (credit to Jack at As the Apple Turns for that one).
Vos teneo officium eram periculosus ut vos recipero is.
I have to say this is great news. I'm a long time employee, and I have skills that could take me to many companies, but I choose this one for many reasons.
/. praises when they hammer away at Microsoft for monopolizing the market... why would anyone here not support them on the same grounds for moving against Oracle?
Oracle started this bid and has continued it as a way of disrupting business, creating FUD, and trying to change PeopleSoft's market perception. I've worked with both products and I can tell you that there are very few who would claim Oracle's product, support or business tactics are better than PeopleSoft's. That's not saying that any ERP product doesn't have it's pitfalls, but our customers are some of the most loyal and it's not without good reason.
I'm all for the free market, but the proposed takeover would undoubtedly crush innovation and increase prices. It faces many regulatory hurdles, from a DOJ lawsuit, to a potential EU lawsuit on the same grounds and a States Attorneys General lawsuit should it go forward. These people are the same ones
I'm of the belief that anyone who wants this to go through is either paid by Oracle, has strong ties to Oracle, or is a short term investor. Larry has a magical way of using the "system" to his advantage and he has only done this to cause market confusion, disrupt PeopleSoft's business and drive up his sagging market share.
I'm of the belief he NEVER wanted to buy PeopleSoft. If Oracle truly wanted us, why not do it 2+ years prior when we were against the ropes? He would have gotten us on the cheap and had a nice chunk of customers. No, if he really wanted to buy PSoft, he would have never badmouthed the product, claim he was dropping support or any of the other shenanigans he's pulled. He's scared of the combined force of JDEdwards and PeopleSoft and the customer's he's been losing to us for years.
By the way, many PeopleSoft employees are ex-Oracle ones and every single one of them I know has said they will never work for Oracle again. Even current Oracle employees apologize for their boss... what does that tell you?
In the end, I have a feeling this will bite him on the ass.
Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. -Samuel Johns
Snidley Whiplash!
myke
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
"Oracle should set its sights on BEA "
THey already have. Our oracle salesman said 6 months ago they would be going after BEA when the peoplesoft stuff is done.
My university uses Peoplesoft as a vendor; we use them for class scheduling and managing class documents and communication. But they output some of the shoddiest HTML I've seen in a long time. It's a strange mix of HTML and CSS, and obviously hasn't been tested except on one browser. It's been published in our school's most-distributed newspaper: Use IE to avoid problems.
Our school's course management system is one of the more infuriating sites around. For instance, hitting enter in a form doesn't submit the form. Rather, it reloads the page. And blanks all of your entries. And you can't stop the reload.
I have a serious problem with Peoplesoft's products.
</rant>
I don't know or understand all of the stakes involved in the acquisition or lawsuit, but I have this to say: I can only hope that Peoplesoft cleans up its act (read: HTML output). I don't like having to use other people's computers when Firefox doesn't know how to deal the poor output.
I think he (Ellison) looks like Dr. Terminus from Pete's Dragon. (Or would with the aforementioned hat and cape.)
Oh wait! I know! The Rock has grown some hair in and a beard and gone corporate! Do you smell what (stock deal) the Rock is cookin!?
I didn't realize BEA was a player in the applications market. I thought they sold tools and infrastructure, not ERP applications. (Newegg might use BEA to run their web server, but wouldn't go to BEA for, say, warehouse and order management software.)
Regarding why the DoJ didn't have a problem with PeopleSoft buying JD Edwards, perhaps its because that merger was arguably beneficial to the customers. PeopleSoft is weakest in areas like hard core distribution and direct sales (like what newegg does), and that's where JD Edwards really shines. JD Edwards, on the other hand, is weaker in some areas where PeopleSoft is stronger, such as with their technology infrastructure (PeopleSoft is all web based) and their HR package.
Another aspect of this is that maybe the DoJ could see this was perhaps Justice was legitimately conviced that this deal was bad for competition. More information available here, and here (Is Oracle the New Neighborhood Bully).
I worked for Oracle for three years, before they sold the division I work for.
.
Larry owns my new company too, but whatever . .
Ellison's parking space was right outside of the 500 building entrance. I saw him wandering around the parking lot, cell phone clamped to his ear, a few times. The space wasn't specially marked, just one of a bunch of reserved spaces.
Once, during a staff meeting, the boss mentioned that the division managers were trying to come up with text for a sign for Larry's spot, because people who didn't know better would park there.
The favorite suggestion:
EXIT INTERVIEW PARKING
he needs mod points or a noose, cant decide...
Unlike M$, Oracle is about the best database out there. It has some seriously cool tech.
The bigger issue though, is that what Oracle does doesn't really affect us personally in any way. I mean, how many of us are running $10,000+ ERP software on are home desktops. If we use that stuff at all, it's only for work and if it is somewhat annoying, who cares?
Microsoft's largess actually affects our lives, some of us run Windows, or have seen OSs, software and companies we like crushed by them and their mediocrity.
How many of us have a personal love of peoplesoft?
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
He is... Tuxedo Mask!
That one of the main reasons anti-trust laws came to be was that corporations became so powerful that they could threaten the US government. Standard Oil could rase and lower oil proces at will, all across the US and they used that power to get concessions out of the government.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
It all has to do with campaign contributions. Ellison is a well known donor to democrats so he must be punished by Ashcroft. Just like Martha Stewart. Martha stewart is on trial because she prevented a 60 thousand dollar loss. Ken Lay and Bernie Ebbers were never even tried for ripping of tens of billions of dollars from people. Bernie Ebbers alone accounted for nine billion dollars of fraud by worldcom.
Guess who those two contributed most money to?
The best way to support the US war effort is to continue buying American products.
- MS is allowed off the monopoly charge.
- The Feds are trying to get EU and other countries to drop monopoly charges against MS.
- the dish/direct merger was blocked, even though, they were willing to be controlled in locations that did not have cable alternatives.
- The Feds allow the merger of the top 2 cable companies, which now controls 50% of the market.
Not what you know but who you know and pay off. Charlie Ergin, you have to pay.I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
He's widely ignored, because many concepts he's tried to champion have not just failed, they've imploded before they even left the launch pad. The whole thin-client netpc is a great example.
Bill Gates is villified on Slashdot for quashing innovation under a juggernaut of mediocrity, and now Ellison is demonized for daring to take a few risks with his business.
Let me clue you in: one time, Ellison tried a crazy idea, everyone in the existing database industry thought he was fucking crazy. That crazy idea was called the relational database. Sure IBM did a lot of the groundwork in their labs, but they thought RDBMS was an academic curiousity, nothing more. Ellison put his own cash on the line and took a RISK. Yeah, he's a little smug, but why the hell not, he's earned it. How many industries have you started?
Damn, it's a shame Slashbots are too busy guzzling Cheetos in their parents' basements to run the industry, who knows where we'd be by now?
anyone else thinks ellison looks a look like a certain hank scorpio?
http://www.rayn.net . Funny. Stuff.
Also, the photo of Ellison is kind of comical. If you were to throw a black cape and a tall hat on him, he could be a circus magician.
Funny that - also if you threw a cape and a hat on their database you might have something that was easy to install.
The laws aren't just to prevent total monopolies, but to prevent a company from getting there through unfair practices in the first place, or from using a total monopoly or near-monopoly in one area to take over another. MS surely crossed this line a while ago, and they continue to do so. They own 95% of the desktop OS market. By comparison, Standard Oil held 85% of the oil market at their peak. The issue here isn't if you agree with the anti-trust laws themselves, the issue is that they aren't applied consistently. MS uses their monopoly in that market to gain monopolies in the markets of browsers, word processing, media players... the list goes on. This would be the equivalent of Ford having 95% of the car market, and all the sudden buying up a tire company, and constructing cars so that it was highly advantageous, or down right impossible, to use any other tire.
how come larry has a fully head of hair and a beard but no eyebrows..?
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
I know this isn't Fark . . .
I guess it isn't common knowledge that he used to be known as The Amazing Larry.
-Peter
He's also very entertaining to listen to... At openworld I always look forward to his keynote.. It usually has a mix of comedy and bashing other vendors (mostly MS but a few jabs at IBM).
Another thing I like about Oracle is that they are pushing Linux in the Business world. If it wasn't for them there would be no way I could get linux in at my company. Having one point of contact for my linux and oracle issues is pricesless and makes linux easier to sell to management.
"Thanks to the remote control I have the attention span of a gerbil."
We are speaking of the CRM/ERP/etc application product of Oracle absorbing the related product of peoplesoft.. NOT their database server product. ( which peoplesoft doesnt have anyway, they are actually the biggest Oracle database customers out there. )
Both companies' application suites suck, not oracle's database product..
that is why I specifically, and clearly, excluded that in my first post..
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Well, the DoD in past couple years, for the DIMHRS project has made MAJOR expenditures on People Soft....this may have something to do with all this...they may be worried about their investment.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
the DOJ wishes to preserve and maintain competition, but when one of the competitors is about to win, they don't let them?
doesn't the concept of "competition" imply the possibility of victory?
If I could make this sig kill you, I would.
I think he would look more like Snidely from the old Dudley Doright cartoon.
You mean that libertarian philosophy created by that third-rate intellectual Ayn Rand? Yea, I read some of her other works and I couldn't understand what was so great about her. "Atlas Shrugged" - she takes one idea and blows it so ridiculously out of proportion as to defy logic and then uses this crappy base to spout her philosophy. Bah.
"If you were to throw a black cape
and a tall hat on him, he could be a circus magician."
You misspelt "Mandrake the Magician."
HTH
-Rich
my (perhaps naive) business mind cannot imagine any reason for SAP to
support oracle's takover other than that oracle and SAP must have
relatively different and well defined markets, and that peoplesoft is in
both of them.
i really don't care if there is a monopoly in the database market, because
[1]just like with windows and associated crapola tools and dev
environments vs. open source, it will make it easier for us (as in people
like you and i) to compete since we are using cheaper, more robust, and
more easily deployable tools [2] i (perhaps naively) am seeing a real
trend in terms of increased corporate scrutiny and mistrust these days,
and this will contrubute to an environment where people will be even more
motivated to apply that attitude and develop better policies. martha
steward is going to jail! so are enron people! somewhat separately, we are
also seeing linux begin to reach critical mass in some markets... and when
the shit hits the fan in the sco case i think linux will get loads of
press, ibm will go to bed with it (it already has to some extent... but i
see it becoming a huge contributer in the coming years), et cetera.