9iAS light version for forms/reports services only

I posted a question on OTN forms forum regarding the licensing issues for deploying 9i forms and/or reports via 9iAS enterprise edition (EE).

Even if you are using forms/reports server 6i, you need to obtain an 9iAS EE license. This might be a CPU based or named user based, but still deployment of forms over the intranets/web is tied up to the 9iAS EE from the "licensing" point of view.

The latest announcement from Oracle for pulling the extended support for client/server platform (forms 6i) to 2006 (from 2008) forced us to consider porting our client/server application to 9i. As you all know, there is no client/server support in 9i forms/reports. We accepted that fact but astonished when we learned how 9i forms/reports "deployment" is linked to 9iAS EE from the licensing point of view. There are white papers explaining how to strip the rest of the 9iAS EE just to use the forms/reports services part of it. But the problem is not the technical issues but the licensing. This is why I asked Oracle if it is possible (feasible) for them to market the forms/reports 9i as a separate product for development and deployment.

Eventhough Oracle offers a 25% discount today (for 9iDS and 9iAS EE) to encourage us to migrate our applications from client/server to the web (or intranet), the licensing costs are preposterous - for us the developers to convince our project managers and our customers (who are only interested in the client/server) to purchase 9iAS EE licenses. I believe Oracle should come up with a light version of 9iAS just to deploy forms and reports services (and nothing else) at a reduced cost.

[Quoted] Oracle did market reports as a stand alone product in the past and now they are marketing JDeveloper as a stand alone product. Why we should pay 5000 dollars for the entire iDS package if all we want to use is the forms and/or reports part of it? Why we need to purchase a full 9iAS EE license (CPU or named user) just to be able to deploy our forms and/or reports application? Isn't this absurd? We did accept that Oracle did quit in the middle of the game and stopped supporting client/server but forcing the 9iAS EE licensing down to our throats? I think it is unacceptable.

Oracle might think that they only care for the enterprises who can afford puchasing 9iAS EE licenses, but we the small companies who still develops for the client/server and want to move to the intranet or web, can not afford it, and we need an alternative - cheaper solution for both development (upgrade to 9i forms without purchasing the entire iDS) and deployment (a light option for forms/reports 9i only -- not the rest of the 9iAS EE).

Please update my posting on OTN (forms forum) regarding the licensing issue. Together, we might make Oracle listen, and make the forms/reports 9i a more affordable tool that can be used in the future not by the enterprises but by small companies as well.

best regards. Received on Mon Feb 17 2003 - 22:22:10 CET