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

On 25 Dec 1997 12:23:14 GMT, Tom Greer Jr <tomjr_at_glock.tx3.com> wrote:
>[snip]
>Chris Cox (ohnoyou_dont_ccox_at_central.beasys.com) wrote:
>: I heard that an internal port of Oracle to Linux has already taken
>: place. Don't know which version. Given Informix's lack of response
>: on the Linux front....I'd think that it would be mega-kudos all
>: around if Oracle provided a Linux offering.
>
>I work during the day for a company that just went through 4 months of
>SQL-on-Linux evaluation. We had Oracle reps, Informix reps, come over and
>talk to us. We talked to Raima, Software-AG, and everyone else.
>
>The story with Oracle-on-Linux is, that there _is_ a port. Oracle has been
>running it sucessfully in their R&D labs for months. The story we got for
>why it won't be released is _support_.
>
>When you buy Oracle for DEC Unix, for example, Oracle requires that you run
>the DBMS on only Oracle-approved DEC hardware. No Alpha clones, no third
>party net cards, nothing. If you don't they won't support it.
>
>The reason for _that_ is, they claim they hand-tune parts of the Oracle
>software to the specific drivers you are running, and ship you that
>hand-tuned version. They cannot hand-tune Oracle for maximum performance on
>every combination of every piece of Linux-supported hardware.
>
>So, chances are, even if they shipped Oracle for Linux, it wouldn't perform
>as well as the other versions (for other platforms where they have strict
>hardware requirements).
>
>BTW, we gave up on running our RDMS on Linux. We're buying a DEC 4100 to
>run it on, with DEC Unix.

Dumb question...

What is it that Oracle "certifies" to when they do the port to SCO?

• SCO runs on PCs
• It has a *reasonably* sizable set of supported hardware
• It is the commercial UNIX probably most readily comparable to Linux (and the sundry "free UNIXes").

I won't disagree that Oracle may have stringent requirements for supporting some platforms, particularly for "advanced" products such as OPS. When "tricking up" cars with things like aftermarket turbochargers and other "advanced" racing equipment, it's necessary to be exceedingly precise in having an otherwise unmodified car, as the things that improve performance may make the car *break* if parameters change just a little.

But not everyone is looking for the database equivalent to a turbocharged, nitrous oxide enhanced Porsche. If Oracle is merely targetting "tricked-up" "supercomputing" sites, then they're severely limiting their marketing. They also need to support generic servers, much as a SCO box, or the typical Linux box, would be.

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