Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Red Hat Dismissing Microsoft, Oracle

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the cool-under-fire dept.

Robert writes to tell us Red Hat's CEO Matthew Szulik is encouraging customers to take Microsoft up on their support voucher offer for Novell's rival Linux system in order to "get the issue over with." Dismissing the impact that the Microsoft-Novell deal has had on business, Szulik is just happy to see customers taking Microsoft's money. "Szulik also dismissed Oracle Corp's attempt to under-cut it on Linux support on similar grounds, insisting that customers were unlikely to be convinced by cost savings that are a small percentage of their overall software spend."

3 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. Oracle Support of Linux is a good thing by rohar · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Having attended Oracle Openworld this year and being an Oracle DBA in a large AIX/HP/Solaris environment, I don't think the Oracle Linux support offering is negative for Red Hat or Linux in general. Oracle is attempting to get Linux buy-in from larger corporations that are traditional Unix shops with the idea that offering the same level of support for the OS as the DB on servers that are usually running databases exclusively is a reason to switch from traditional Unix.

    I don't think that there will be many customers that are already running Linux and purchasing support from Red Hat switching to Oracle Linux support, but I think the Oracle support of Linux and their IP indemnification of Linux is overall good for Linux adoption in the enterprise.

    1. Re:Oracle Support of Linux is a good thing by DaveAtFraud · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The other rationale that came right from an Oracle guy presenting at the local LUG was "one throat to choke." He said that customers didn't like calling Oracle support only to be told their problem was a Linux issue and then calling Red Hat and be told it was an Oracle issue. To the extent that people install RHEL only to run a Linux server, customers will probably migrate to Oracle. Oracle Linux isn't positioned as a general purpose distro but as a platform for an Oracle database (hine: don't call Oracle if you have a Samba issue).

      In a similar vein, the same person said that Oracle is pushing current Windows customers to migrate to Linux. It seems Oracle's Windows support spends more time dealing with Windows issues than Oracle issues. Oracle Linux isn't a way to go after Linux distros. Larry's ultimate target is Bill.

      Cheers,
      Dave

      --
      They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
      Ben
  2. Oracle, pfft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When Oracle announced that they were going to rebrand and sell Red Hat, most people that posted comments on this site were up in arms over this. Anyone that does business with Oracle would have known how insignificant the announcement was. Dealing with Oracle sucks. I can phone three different sales reps and get three wildly different prices for the exact same configuration. Sometimes the pricing depends on how their products are going to be used, sometimes not. Without getting into more specifics, I can think of no other word for their sales department, other than 'greasy'. The only reason we still buy some products from Oracle is because we have to.

    For all their warts, doing business with Red Hat is a dream compared to Oracle.