Re: Why doesn't Oracle care about Linux as IBM does?

Hi, Robert. One of our strengths (as Blair has pointed out) is that our source-tree is pretty much identical
for all the platforms we run on. This essentially makes the decision criteria for DB2, on such platforms as Solaris
or HP/UX, identical, with the exception of operating specific issues. For example, Solaris uses intimate shared
memory and lightweight semaphores, both of which DB2 will utilize. In general, though, pretty much everything
that end-users or DBA's see (with the exception of installation, which is slightly diferent by platform) is the same across all UNIX/WIN/OS2/LINUX versions.

We like to think that makes the hardware decision seperate from the software decision. As there are no significant
differences in the DB2 functionality/capabilities across those platforms (DB2/390 and AS/400 are exceptions), you can choose the hardware you like, and DB2 will have the same features/functions/support on any and all of them. (OK, so I'm prejudiced, can you tell?)

TomB

Robert Dean wrote:

> Doug wrote:
> >
> > If IBM offers strong linux support and Oracle offers only lip service the
> > TCO of IBM solutions will fall (not a much as you might think, OS and HWs
> > proportion of TCO is small and shrinking) and the tech risk will rise so
> > only a small net change. IBM will incur significant ramp up and support
> > costs and Oracle will not.
>
> There are two flaws in this argument:
> 1) the assumption that Oracle doesn't support Linux
> 2) the assumption that tech risk should be evaluated in aggregate
> (i.e., all DB2s together or all Oracles together)
>
> Obviously, Oracle does support Linux. Perhaps they're not as
> aggressive at rolling out support at IBM, but, as others have alluded
> to, that may simply be because the SuSe version was done so Oracle
> rolled it out the door to start getting that revenue.
>
> Second, tech risk is evaluated for the platform being considered. If
> I'm looking at a database product for Solaris, then I evaluate the
> TCO and tech risk of DB2 vs. Oracle *on Solaris.* I don't care about
> the aggregate tech risk of deploying DB2 on Oracle -- I only care
> about the tech risk on the operating system I'm supporting.
>
> Robert
Received on Tue Aug 21 2001 - 11:11:13 CDT