Oracle Right or Wrong

Over the past several months, I've been learning the in's and out's of Oracle programming so that I could port my application over from SQL Server. I have received a great deal of help from people in the know, and in large part, from these Oracle forums. I find the UseNet to be invaluable for getting near-instantaneous feedback from people who are out in the real world experiencing the same things that I am. Although I've been developing in many languages over the past 20 years, I'm a newbie to Oracle. As such, I appreciate the constructive advice that many of you have given me even though my basic questions may have been answered many times over. So, I thank you for all the free advice I've been "taking" from this forum.

That said, I've been active in a number of forums in my years but I've never seen the level of arrogance and closed mindedness that I see from some members of this forum. This posting isn't directed towards the people who put forward constructive advice and criticism. This is directed towards the people who seem to worship the Oracle God and spend as much time pontificating as they do giving advice (if any).

Is it just me? I can't believe that I'm alone in this observation. If any of you share my opinion, by all means, chime in here. Some of you guys sound like stiff college professors, scolding me for not bringing my "books" to class or disagreeing that Oracle is not the end-all of DBMS's. I read the postings. When people ask questions, they don't always get answers, they get lectures-- and condescending critiques, at that. I run a business, I have questions, I need answers. Those of you are nice enough to take the time out to help me, I thank you. But those who want to lecture and pontificate should save it. Hey, if I wanted a lecture, I'd go back to college! Some of you guys really need to lighten up.

As a user trying to understand a new product, I like to read the members' opinions to find out what the strengths and weaknesses of the product are in relation to others in its class. Unfortunately, the discussions are rather one-sided in this forum. And from what I've seen, people are probably afraid to use the "M" word in here for fear they will be flamed and moofed to death (as I will certainly be). Some of you guys sound like "Little Larry Ellisons" running around with noses in the air phrasing every answer to every question with "And that's another reason why Oracle is great and Microsoft sucks.". A little objectivity please...

In the interest of debate, can you honestly say that NOTHING that SQL server has to offer is better than what Oracle puts out? Or that there is NO feature that some other DBMS may have that is superior to Oracle? Or that Oracle may have limitations that other products do not? If your answer is a resounding "NO" then I think that some of you need to open your minds a bit.

To some of you I'm sure I'm sounding like a jerk here. But to others in the group, I believe that you know what I'm talking about when it comes to the "attitude" in here. In my 3 month long "Trial By Fire", I've come to the conclusion that Oracle is, overall, the most powerful DBMS out there. But there are areas where Oracle lags behind Microsoft and there is room for improvement. I feel like a PC user in a Mac group for saying this, but I'd like to see a little more objectivity and discussion about the pros and cons in here, that's all. God forbid, someone like me admits that in here, but hey, what do I know, I'm just a newbie, right <g>? Received on Tue Oct 08 2002 - 15:11:00 CDT