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Home -> Community -> Usenet -> c.d.o.misc -> Re: Oracle licensing
On Sat, 01 May 1999 02:11:13 GMT, jonathan_at_gennick.com (Jonathan
Gennick) wrote:
>On Thu, 29 Apr 1999 16:45:03 -0400, Stan Novinsky
><stan_novinsky_at_jhuapl.edu> wrote:
>
>>Here's one of the age-old questions: what constitutes a User and what
>>constitutes a client?
>>
>>Does one SQLnet connection to the server database count towards a "User
>>License" ?
>
>I don't know the answer to your question, but Oracle
>licensing can seem like voodoo economics sometimes. Here is
>a true, and somewhat humorus anecdote. This is something I
>went through earlier this year:
>
>I have a client implementing a dial-up voice-response system
>to allow people to call in, enter their ID number, and get
>back their account balance. The system is implemented on
>OS/2. My client is licensed for 200+ Windows 95 users.
>
>I asked Oracle if we could just count the OS/2 app as a
>user. Answer: No, because OS/2 is a different OS.
>
>Then I asked Oracle what it would cost to buy 12 client
>licenses for the OS/2 machine. There were 12 phone lines you
>see. Oracle's first response was that I had to purchase a
>license for every possible user. Yeah right! My client was a
>fairly large city, and the customer base was everyone in the
>city. Like h--- they were going to buy 2 million client
>licenses for a 12-line phone system.
>
>The whole thing ultimately hinged on whether or not the 13th
>caller got a busy signal or was routed to some kind of
>queue. When I assured the Oracle rep that the 13th caller
>would get a busy signal, he finally agreed that we could go
>with a 12 user client license.
FWIW, a acquaintance of mine used to work in southern Michigan. His employer had a database connection multiplexor set up (i.e., 8 machines connect to this one, and this machine only has 1 connection to the database). Oracle claimed they needed 8 licenses (in this example), the company said "1 connection, 1 license."
Supposedly, it went to trial, and Oracle LOST. The court decision did not require Oracle to change their licensing, but held that portion of the license unenforcable.
This was several years ago, and I've lost track of a lot of details in that time. I doubt I could even track down the company name now (they went bankrupt shortly afterward.)
Your mileage may vary.
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