Oracle Ready To (Continue) Linux Plunge

alphadogg writes "Rumors are swirling yet again that Oracle wants to get cozier with Linux and at least one financial analyst says customers can expect a tighter Linux-based appliance from the database and application vendor by the end of the month."

Comments

Oracle World bus

[Anonymous Coward]

They have at least one large bus at Oracle World with a giant Tux pained on the side of it. The text said something about Linux and stability.

Re:Competition from PostgreSQL and FreeBSD.

[Doctor Memory]

several Opteron-based servers running FreeBSD and using PostgreSQL as the database can often be used to replace hundreds of Sun servers running Oracle

FreeBSD's network stack and file system are so much faster than Solaris' that you can replace a dozen or so Sun boxes with a single Opteron-based FreeBSD box? Because I know that most of the large database systems I've seen are bandwith-limited at one end or the other, they're rarely CPU-bound. Maybe your old Sun systems are hooked to a 10base-T hub, and you got a Gigabit switch for the Opterons? Or did your IT staff just figure out that most of your databases are small enough that they don't need to be on a separate server?

Seriously, I like both BSD and PostgreSQL, but you're going to taint them both if you keep spewing fanboi FUD like this.

Re:Several smart moves for them

[Vellmont]

Why do the above? Simple. Small 1-6 ppl companies do not spend the money for Oracle or their apps. But if you offer it to them free, then an industry will sprout up around it. More importantly, once the company is on it, after 6 seats, they have to pay. I would also guess that these companies will want support. At some point, they will pay. Finally, this shuts out MS.


It's not a bad idea, but I think there's a few problems with it. If you were setting up a database for a small company with 1-6 seats would you pick heavyweight Oracle with it's higher costs to maintain, administer, etc, or would you pick PostgreSQL or MySQL which is cheaper to maintain, and doesn't have a mid-range expansion cost associated with it? I know I'd pick an open-source free DB way before I'd pick Oracle.

The reason is that the guys that have 1-6 seat needs are a long ways from actually needing Oracle. The expansion stage from dinky buisiness with very small DB needs to small-medium size is a lot more important (at least initially) than the medium-> large scale transition you'll need when you need the heavyweight stuff from Oracle (and some would even argue that PostgreSQL and MySQL are well used in large-scale businesses as well).