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Re: native Oracle-port on Linux -- what would it take?

From: S V <sv1_at_mindspring.com>
Date: 1997/12/17
Message-ID: <01bd0b13$3da5c480$2e5c0c26@sfinance3>#1/1

Bjorn Borud <borud_at_guardian.no> wrote in article <m2wwh3x5bs.fsf_-__at_lucifer.guardian.no>...
>
> | <sigh> isn't this covered in the Linux FAQ? IF you can get hold of
> | certain SCO binaries you can install Oracle just fine. I have done it
 on
> | Red Hat and even on Slackware, both with the iBCS package installed of
> | course.
>
> strange really; it has become a FAQ how to install SCO binaries on
> Linux and quite a few sources say that most large companies or
> companies that have anything to do with the Internet, use Linux -- yet
> Oracle are unable to deliver a Linux version of their database.

Linux is missing many features for any OS to be worth considering as a viable database platform.

1.  Linux has no logical volumes layer.
2.  Linux has no transaction-oriented filesystem.
3.  Linux has no support for raw devices - hence NO even remote possibility
     to run Oracle Parallel Server.

4. Linux networking is flaky at best.
5. Linux OS block size is what? 512 bytes? It would make even MS Access laugh and puke steam.
6.  Linux SMP is rudimentary and flaky at best.
7.  The same for multithreading.
8.  Oracle requires efficient IPC and record-locking mechanisms. Linux
cannot do
     record-locking at all, last time I checked.  So Oracle would have to
write its own
     code for that. Why would anyone sane want that?

In fact porting Oracle to Linux would require Oracle to write its own Linux almost
from scratch.

==> I don't see much (or rather _any) prospects for seeing Oracle on Linux.

Cordially,
Serge

> it probably does make sense when you think about Oracle having a CEO
> that wasn't even aware of what PL/SQL is until someone called him and
> wanted to know if they were continuing to support PL/SQL in future
> releases.
>
> "PL/SQL, what's that!?"
>
> perhaps someone should give said CEO a call and tell him that there's
> this thing called Linux out there that a lot of professionals use and
> that it's time to update one's view of the world a bit?
>
> last time I heard it was the lack of raw-devices, but since that
> isn't really an issue (how many of you use raw-devices anyway? not
> many companies I know) it must be something else.
>
> also software companies keep whining about Linux being a moving
> target. bullshit. pick a distribution and a (release) version and
> make Oracle run on it.
>
> yes, Linux is in flux as are all operating systems. the difference
> mainly being that Linux is evolving and advancing faster and that
> kernel-updates are made available to the public more often.
>
> -Bjørn
> --
> Bjørn Borud <borud_at_guardian.no> | "The Net interprets censorship
> <URL:http://www.pvv.unit.no/~borud/> | as damage and routes around it."
> UNIX person, one of "them" | - John Gilmore
>
Received on Wed Dec 17 1997 - 00:00:00 CST

Original text of this message

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