Re: oracle server for learning purposes?

On Jul 27, 3:02 pm, DA Morgan <damor..._at_psoug.org> wrote:
> joel garry wrote:
> > That might be a little too optimistic. Not only do they have to deal
> > with previously identified errors, they have to deal with the fact
> > that it will be interpreted against whoever wrote it, as well as the
> > indeterminacy of what it really means until a judicial system congeals
> > the meaning against whatever narrow set of facts get it to a lawsuit.
>
> Not really. There are only a handful of companies that would be willing
> to take it that far with Oracle. The cost of litigation and public
> relations would deter almost anyone from pushing the envelope.
>

Wouldn't you know I only have a handful of customers... :-)

Now that you mention it, looking back, many of my employers have been embroiled in software lawsuits (not 'cause of me, thank goodness!). In one case, at my first paid job as a jr. programmer, the manager hired a fellow who had just been dumped by a software house. I wound up using him as a consultant at subsequent jobs, and almost went to work for him (I decided to be a unix/oracle guy instead). A dozen years later I was working for the software house, and the lawsuit was finally coming to trial. At one lunch, the president of the division mentioned the fellow, and I told him the fellow and I were good buds. Classic look on his face.

So I dunno, man. Every company I've ever worked for (besides mine) has lawyers, and they are rarely shrinking violets. It's difficult to succeed in the business world without a certain amount of aggressiveness. The lawyers necessarily must take a pessimistic view of contracts, and the business people must necessarily take an optimistic view of business, and the PR people have to put lipstick on this split-brained camel, and nobody wants to tell the emperor what they're doing to hit the numbers. What deterrence? Have you never heard an IS manager yell at an ISP when the data lines are down?

jg

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