Re: How to calibrate the CBO

"Mike Ault" <mikerault_at_earthlink.net> wrote in message news:37fab3ab.0402081141.446b3cd_at_posting.google.com...
> In addition to my other posting, let me add that Don and I tune
> systems on a daily basis, it is our job. He in his role with BEI, mine
> with my role at TUSC.

That's lovely. You tune systems and write books. You must eat a lot of spinach !!

I might suggest perhaps if some authors spent just a little more time actually tuning systems and a little less time actually writing books, the quality of both might improve.

>We answer based on what we see works in the real
> world. Sometimes in our attempts to make knowledge available we may
> miss a fact or two, regretable but it happens.

What if one misses more than a fact or two. What if I've lost count on the number of facts lost some may have missed. It perhaps becomes a little more than just regretable ...

>
> To continue such constant harrassment of a single person you must have
> some hidden vendetta against him. Did he run over your dog when you
> were a small lad?

I find your comments above offensive. I do not harass anybody. What I have done on a number of occasions is highlight from a *purely technical perspective* mistakes, inaccuracies, misleading and down right incorrect comments on a number of DB's articles. Nothing more. Your previous post was the first time *ever* anyone has questioned the accuracy of any of my comments regarding Don's articles. And not very successfully I might add. I also question the technical accuracy and make appropriate corrections to numerous other posters and technical writers. When I highlight errors and suggest improvements, I'm generally *thanked* by both the author and the Oracle community. And yes, I also provided help and technical assistance directly to many many Oracle folk in OracleLand.

>As I understand it you post constant diatribes
> against his articles where ever they appear, post negative ratings for
> his books, and in general make a real bother of yourself.

Don consistently makes fundamental errors and mistakes in many of his articles. He claims to be one of the worlds leading experts, many people new to Oracle therefore read his stuff as being correct. I have highlighted on a number of occasions *exactly* what those mistakes are, how the mistakes can be *exactly* corrected so that those who innocently read this stuff can learn Oracle *correctly*. I might be a bother for Don and *others* who publish Oracle articles full of mistakes and inaccuracies, but I suggest I'm a help to many more trying to determine right for wrong.

This suggestion by you that I have something personal against Don is both offensive and entirely wrong.

>Don't you
> have a life other than harrassing other folks? I always find it more
> uplifting to find the things correct in an article than dig for every
> possible shade of incorrectness. If I find a glaring error, I may post
> an email to the author, telling them of their error, but I try not to
> publicly embarrass anyone.

I have written to Don *directly* on *numerous* occasions highlighting errors and inaccuracies in various articles and I've provided extremely *detailed* analysis on how to correct his writings *directly* to *Don*. *BEFORE* I said anything publicly. Guess what. Not once, not one single time has Don made any attempt to correct these mistakes. Let me be quite clear about this. After contacting Don directly with a *technical analysis* of his work, highlighting errors and inaccuracies, *not once* has Don subsequently corrected any of his articles. Most of the time, my emails are simply totally ignored to the point I generally don't bother anymore.

There's an article that is still on his website that incorrectly says PCTFREE is not a valid option with ASSM. I highlighted this error to Don over a year ago. I spent 2 days of emails with a poor bugger who was hopelessly confused with pctfree and ASSM, trying to explain how it actually works. Once the crap infiltrates the mind, it can be a bugger to clean up and guess what, prevention is often the best cure.

And the mistakes just keep coming and coming ... On his site, he posted just a few days ago an article on how to speed up loads. Among the gems includes the suggestion to "use a small db_cache_size, this will minimize DBWR work" !! It's the truth. It also says "At each commit, the DBWR process will try to write all dirty blocks to disk, performing an expensive full-scan of the RAM data buffer". He doesn't even know what happens during a commit and the difference between a commit and a checkpoint. I learnt all this on the first morning of my first Oracle course.

Good grief, and I get accused of "harassing" when I highlight these errors.

If Don bluntly refuses to correct his blatant mistakes, then I have no problems with making the public aware of these mistakes so they don't corrupt innocent minds. Answer me this, who is doing the Oracle community the greater good. Someone who publishes mistakes, myths and errors as though they are correct, or someone who highlights those errors and provides the correct analysis. You might get a different answer depending on whether you're the one writing the mistakes or not ... I'd be interested to know what the newsgroup thinks.

>
> You make allegations and claims to superior knowledge yet I don't see
> you actually answer the questions posed in your anxiousness to slam
> those who do. You and those like you are the reason I shun most online
> Oracle lists in favor of those with monitors.

May I suggest you do a little search on these archives or on metalink or on a number of other forums. I have answered numerous questions and helped numerous people with Oracle related problems. Just ask this newsgroup. As I mentioned before, I've probably provided enough help and analysis to fill a book. And yes, I've made mistakes and when someone has been kind enough to point them out, I've both learnt and appreciated the fact.

Shame, the same can't be said for everyone.

Richard Received on Mon Feb 09 2004 - 05:22:20 CST