Re: Newbie to Oracle

From: DA Morgan <damorgan_at_x.washington.edu>
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:03:31 -0700
Message-ID: <1114199974.344292_at_yasure>


Comments in-line. And they will be harsh so if you can't take it please don't read it because no apology will be forthcoming.

The Raven wrote:

> As a follow up to my original ramblings I'd like to thank all those who
> responded. Yes, I realise that a lot of effort needs to be expended getting
> up to speed on this but Oracle is not a product I'm supposed to be
> supporting (my boss thinks otherwise despite the corporate statements about
> it).

  1. Your boss makes the decisions. If you can't abide that resign.
  2. Are you a professional or a member of a union? "Sorry we lay bricks but don't carry them."

> In case you missed it, I'm very frustrated with Oracle at the moment. I've
> been pushing my boss for some form of training for the last few years and
> haven't got it. As a result, trying to battle through Oracle with no mentors
> or assistance is getting me nowhere but frustration city.

You get symapthy on the first point from the standpoint that your company should be supporting your education. But it is YOUR education and when you quit the company, unless you plan on a frontal-lobotomy, you will be carrying that knowledge out the door with you.

It seems to me that you ARE and SHOULD BE responsible for your own professional ethics, standards of achievement, and education. And if you can't abide that there are some really great jobs out there selling real estate or life insurance or whatever.

> From what I've read here, and found via search engines etc, 9iAS is a dog of
> a product.

It is not. It was in the past. But that was in the past and is no longer relevant to the conversation except as an historical anecdote.

Hey ALGOL and RGPII weren't pretty either but why should I care?

> Not surprised given that some Oracle corporation consultants
> groaned when we asked them about it and then quoted a very high price. Not
> even our internal Oracle guys are giving me any sensible answers to basic
> question...which suggest they are barely coping as well.

Get new internal people that keep current.

> I'm going to focus my efforts into 10g starting by acquiring some of the
> Oracle CD based training courses (my boss wants to know if we can squeeze a
> discount out of Oracle - jeez....).

Don't you have a checkbook? The CDs are nearly worthless. Look into a local college or university or find a mentor. Either within your company or by contacting any one of the dozens of Oracle User Groups around the world. I could easily put you in touch with someone in my group, for example, if you demonstrated a willingness to learn.

> As for Oracle 9i and 9iAS, I'm going to forget it and leave my boss to sort
> out any promises he makes to customers regarding us (aka me) doing
> installation. Fact is I haven't been able to get past the simplest stages of
> AS and shouldn't be set free on a customers Oracle installation with no
> experience or training... it's a recipe for disaster.
>
> Once again, thanks. I will be taking up some of the suggestions,
> particularly the book titles.

There are classes that can teach you in one day to install and configure Internet App Server. If you are tired of being defeated contact me off-line and I'll put you in touch with them.

And who knows ... maybe you'll get to meet the person that, with good intent however poorly expressed, took you to task.

-- 
Daniel A. Morgan
University of Washington
damorgan_at_x.washington.edu
(replace 'x' with 'u' to respond)
Received on Fri Apr 22 2005 - 22:03:31 CEST

Original text of this message