Re: Virtualbox images for EM 12c, DataGuard, RAC, GoldenGate / run multiple simultaneous OL5 images on Win7?

> For GIS, Oracle Locator provides storage for nearly all commercial and
> open source GIS product

Yes, Locator seems quite nice. And as you say, it's ubiquitous. I provide DBA support for a transportation asset management app that uses only Locator.

> Oracle MapViewer provides a basic visualization tool.  No input/update tool though.

A great source I've found for Free Open Source GIS Software is OSGEO:      http://www.osgeo.org/content/faq/getting_started.html

There is also an annual conference dedicated to Free Open Source GIS tools (FOSS4G):    http://foss4g.org

I did a brief survey of FOSS GIS clients several years ago. The best of breed, all of which can edit, seemed to be:

• QGIS (Quantum GIS--includes a GRASS module for analytics)
• gvSIG
• uDig

I'll be installing the latest QGIS soon on my sandbox HP laptop. Last I checked, QGIS was far behind market leader Esri's ArcGIS Desktop product in terms of features, integration, and usability. And it may "always" be better. But QGIS is free. And Esri doesn't offer full versions of ArcGIS Desktop for educational and training purposes. Fantastic product. Poor judgment and short-sightedness by management. Hopefully they will change and allow GIS professionals, and/or DBA support staff (some of us are hybrids) to take their knowledge of the product as far as they want or need to go. Again, Oracle seems to lead in this regard and it's commendable. Oracle learning seems limited only by ambition and personal workload.

I'm hoping QGIS has improved considerably since I last evaluated it. Or that I've grown less picky. :-)

> A lot of people overlook Personal Edition.  It's a singe-user
> developer's DB, includes all features and enteprise edition options
> except RAC and EM related extensions.  Only available for Windows,
> though.  Target community - developers who actually want to have support
> and perhaps develop things 'right'.

That's a "me too" here. I hadn't at all thought about Personal Edition. Will keep it in mind for training purposes. When you say Windows, can I get it for Windows 7? Or only on Windows Server? And if the latter, is there a free or low cost version of the latest Windows Server for training purposes? I would say Education. But that often implies current enrollment at a University.

Thanks again to all for the help.

Best,

Dana

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