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Sun Hints At Open-Source Database Offering

Posted by timothy on from the trial-balloon-up-flagpole dept.

An anonymous reader points out a ZDNet story which begins "Sun Microsystems has raised the possibility that it might offer customers its own database, a move that could trigger displeasure at Oracle but curry favor with open-source advocates," writing "Last week, during a meeting with financial analysts, Chief Executive Scott McNealy showed a slide that placed the words 'Sun DB' next to a list of existing database products. McNealy offered no details besides 'stay tuned.'"

5 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Uhm... by ceeam · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Do we really, _really_ need another OS/Free RDBMS? What is it going to do what others don't?

  2. Oh really? Um, yay.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Another Open Source database already? How many do we need? MySQL, Postgres..didn't SAP release their DB engine under an OSS licence too? Given that Sun currently don't even offer their own closed database product, I can't imagine any OSS database offering from them is going to amount to much.

  3. Build or Buy ? by supersnail · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Given that a reasonably useful database system would be several hundred thousand lines of code, and, that Oracle & IBM have a 25 year head start not to mention MicroSofts 10 year head start. I don't think it would make sense for SUN to roll thier own database software.

    So the question is who are they gonna buy? IBM has already snapped up Informix. CA has "given" Ingres to the Open Source community. SAP has donated SAP/DB to MySql. MicroSoft is unlikely to sell Access or SQLServer. Which leaves -- Sybase?

    Could be intersting.

    --
    Old COBOL programmers never die. They just code in C.
  4. Say Ingres by Donny+Smith · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My guess is it's going to be CA's Ingres.

    a) It is Open source
    b) CA is a non-competitor (no application server)
    c) CA has been harmonizing their open source license with Sun's (I wonder why?)
    d) CA hopes to make some buck from Ingress and even if they split it even, they're going to make a shitload more than by cooperating with Oracle.
    e) Ingres has parallel features like Oracle RAC so it's more suitable for Sun's vision and for enterprise customers than PostgreSQL or other open source databases.
    f) Oracle is competing with Sun (Oracle's application servers compete with Sun's J2EE servers/apps); there's no reason for Sun to help Oracle.

    I'd really really enjoy see Oracle on their own. I've really had enough of their sales people...

    The time for them to pause and think real hard how they're going to compete in the future.
    Did they really think their competitors were going to stand idly and watch them take all the money (Oracle + Linux).... Hahahaha....

  5. Clustra anyone? by rleyton · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Some three years ago, folk might recall Sun picked up a superb little database outfit by the name of Clustra. They buried it in iPlanet.

    Used it a lot myself, and felt that - like many other companies Sun have bought - the pointy haired bosses there just didn't realise what they'd acquired.

    Maybe a much-needed clue has finally hit home at Sun, and they're going to give Clustra the lease of life it sorely needs and deserves.

    --
    ooooooh! What does this button do? - DeeDee, Dexters Lab.