Re: Oracle chief architect says there ought to be one Linux distribution: Red Hat

• Roy Schestowitz peremptorily fired off this memo:

> Oracle just wants to freeload GNU/Linux _in its entirety_. When will it
> actually give something back? Oh, that's right. Ellison's vocabulary is
> missing the word "give".

Of course! The personal competition between Gates and Ellison over who was wealthiest has been written in a number of articles and books.

Here's an example of their dynamic, at least as it stood a decade ago:

   http://www.networkworld.com/news/1216ellgates.html

   Such digs on Gates are now a well-rehearsed Ellison soliloquy. In    keynote speeches, informal gatherings and private interviews, the    Oracle chief slips easily into long rants on what he sees as Gates'    quest to dominate everything Microsoft touches. One favorite Ellison    refrain is that Gates wants a world of "Microsoft English."

   . . .

   Disagreeing with a point Ellison made, Gates concluded that he would    "have to think about that," and abruptly hung up the phone. Over six    hours later, Gates called back and said he ultimately agreed with    Ellison and "continued the conversation as if nothing had even    happened," Ellison said, expressing his disbelief.

   That Gates should spend half a day mulling over a minor point was a    "revelation" to Ellison, who realized that his erstwhile friend is    "a very unusual person." Moreover, Gates is "the most aggressive,    the most single-minded...the most ambitious person I have ever met    in my life," said Ellison, whose own personal fortune stands at    about $6 billion.

   Again, a question: More ambitious than even Larry Ellison?

   "I have hobbies. I do all sorts of ridiculous things," outside of    work, countered Ellison. Gates, whose "entire life is Microsoft"    would never consider hobbies enjoyed by Ellison, such as sailboat    racing and "reading books," said Ellison, the owner of a Machetti    Italian jet fighter and the richest citizen of "The Golden State."

   . . .

   Ellison laughed when asked if he plays Churchill to Gates' Fuhrer in    his own duel over who will dominate the computer industry.

-- 
Like almost everyone who uses e-mail, I receive a ton of spam every day. Much
of it offers to help me get out of debt or get rich quick. It would be funny if
it weren't so irritating.
   -- Bill Gates, "Why I Hate Spam" in Microsoft PressPass (2003)