Re: Devoloper licenses

Sporge wrote:

> Hi all
>
> We're in the process of porting a system written for MySql to Oracle.
> I would like to find out what the Oracle licensing issues are. The
> license agreement on OTN states:
>
> <snip>
> Ownership and Restrictions
> We retain all ownership and intellectual property rights in the
> programs. The programs may be installed on one computer only, and
> used by one person in the operating environment identified by us. You
> may make one copy of the programs for backup purposes.
> <snip>
>
> The problem I have is that we have 4 developers working on the system.
> Does this mean that we need to purchase licenses for the 3 users? The
> system is not used for any internal data processing.
>
> The database server will be running on Red Hat Linux 7.3 (possibly
> upgraded to RH 9 in the near future).
>
> Any help in this regard would be appreciated.
>
> Ron

Although the final answer MUST come from Oracle, the general interpretation to the licensing is close to this:

1. Each developer can get their own copy of anything from the OTN and use it to their heart's content to develop a 'product' UNTIL the 'product' goes into production.
2. At the time the 'product' goes into production, someone is getting a business benefit from the 'product'. The benefit may be reduced cost for a business process, new business capability or functionality, or some way of generating revenue.

So once the 'product' goes into production, Oracle want to see a return on their investment (which was, at the least, letting you use the Oracle s/w for free). You would then need to buy appropriate copies of what you need to go into production and provide adequate support.

Generally, in your environment, this could be:

By CPU - one license for each CPU regardless of the number of database instances:

• database license for the production database
• database license for the test/development database

It is a poor idea to have the test and prod on the same machine. Let's say 2 CPU for a twin-CPU server running prod, and 1 CPU license for all the developers and testers on the 1-CPU test box.

By developer - one license for each person using development tools, for each tool type, such as JDeveloper, even if the share tools on a single machine.

3) Get Support to access Metalink. This matches the licenses that you have purchased.

Additional thoughts:

One very common mistake is to purchase Enterprise Edition when Standard Edition, or Standard Edition One, will suffice. Guaranteed overpayment, and the base reason why the 'Oracle is expensive' myth abounds.

Another common mistake, with guarantees that you will overpay as well, is to simply port a MySQL app to Oracle without understanding the additional capabilities (such as intrinsic Message Queueing, SMTP mailer, built-in workflow, built-in HTTP server, etc.) or the development process (as described by Tom Kyte's Expert One-on-One Oracle and Effective Oracle Database Design books).

The above are my own idea - you really need to get the answer from a current (authorized) Oracle employee.

/Hans Received on Tue Jun 22 2004 - 03:12:35 CEST