Re: Do sites actually install Oracle themselves ? What a nightmare...

From: Webmaster <w3master_at_beatrix.philips.nl>
Date: 1996/07/19
Message-ID: <31EFC845.5AD_at_beatrix.philips.nl>#1/1


Fred Clift wrote:
>
> jp_at_queen.plaza.nt.com (JP Srinath) writes:
>
> > It's not fair for you guys to judge a sortware product
> > by just the ease of installation.
> >
> > It's highly tunable product and hence no amount of GUI
> > is going to help much, unless you know what you are doing!

Gentlemen,

Let's put it this way: Judging Oracle by it's ease of installation would place this product at the undermost bottom line. I never encountered so many problems installing a product like I had with Oracle. Without having the support option signed in your contract you are LOST! I experienced that sometimes you even can't even rely on the installation manuals!
(btw nice example: the installation guide for Oracle 7.3.2.1 tells you to create the link directory but never mentions that you have to start the START.SH script!
Nice feature for newbys. =;}
I had a funny time watching a guy from a company I am not going to name here trying to install Oracle claiming that this is a rather straight-forward process and he does not understand why people think it is complicated. Well it was his first contact with an Oracle installation and I am sure he will not forget this experience...>-)

Next point was that when you have gathered the information from one manual you still can not be sure if this is all the information you need! There are hidden dependencies that seem to be harmless at first sight but can cause severe troubles. (NLS_LANG settings can be very critical...)

My experiences span HP-UNIX and PC-Win3.x and both platforms costed me a lot of nerves, time and coffee.
HP-UNIX : Server, Webserver, Developer2000 installation PC-WIN3.x: Designer2000 installation

No wonder that most people recommend professional Oracle installation support. I am sure it is worth the money...

addendum: I do not say Oracle is a bad product, in contrary, I am still convinced that it belongs to the best products available on the market. Only the tough installation throws a dark shadow on it's quality.

-- 

Kind regards,

Bernd Buchegger (Webmaster)
Marketing Communications Publishing Services
Philips Semiconductors
Building BEp-42b
P.O. Box 218
5600 MD  Eindhoven
The Netherlands

Fax:            +31 40 2724825
Phone:          +31 40 2724684
Internet:       w3master_at_ehv.sc.philips.com
                Bernd.Buchegge_at_ehv.sc.philips.com

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Received on Fri Jul 19 1996 - 00:00:00 CEST

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