Comments on: Oracle Buying Sun Microsystems

By: Kim Bahir Andersen

Kim Bahir Andersen — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:00:53 +0000

With regards to MSSQL being under attack, it’s my experience in the danish market that it is MSSQL which is still growing in the corporate sphere. MySQL is being used by those applications built for it, but others code against Oracle or MSSQL. And Oracle just doesn’t seem to add the value for money these day (here I take a TCO perspective).
I would hope for Oracle to create an enterprise database (oracle) which was easier to administrate, and perhaps add some features to the “free” MySQL – especially a PL/SQL for MySQL.

Am I the only one who would believe that a transparent language syntax between mysql and oracle would be insanely cool?

By: Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:24:12 +0000

Andres: Yes, Red Hat-Oracle and Red Hat-MySQL are popular combinations. But I think customers will continue to vote for Intel hardware running Red Hat at the foundation. The question is whether Red Hat can maintain middleware momentum (JBoss) vs. Oracle BEA and Sun. I say yes, Red Hat will maintain momentum. Oracle is going to have a difficult time/distraction with Sun’s hardware… …

By: Andres Mujica

Andres Mujica — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:19:58 +0000

hmm, it seems to me that Red Hat would suffer with this acquisition…

By: Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:58:10 +0000

Aikiwolfie: Agreed -- the future of MySQL is far, far more interesting than OpenSolaris. Great perspective from JasperSoft CEO Brian Gentile in his blog, stating that Oracle-Sun deal is a battle for software developers. Gentile believes the hardware piece will be spun off over time. Interesting.

By: aikiwolfie

aikiwolfie — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:54:37 +0000

I think everybody should calm down a bit. This deal could be shot down in a second if it’s deemed to threaten competition. In terms of importance, what Oracle plans to do with MySQL is far more important than what it does with openSolaris.

By: Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:51:57 +0000

Opensolarisnoob: I was surprised to see how little MySQL was mentioned in the press release. It’s as if Oracle doesn’t want to raise regulatory concerns about having the top closed source and open source databases under one roof… …

Microsoft may have taken a hit today with SQL Server, me thinks… Oracle attacking from above. MySQL attacking from below…

By: opensolarisnoob

opensolarisnoob — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:32:17 +0000

They seem to have had their plans for MySQL (potentially a difficult issue) at the ready. I’m guessing their plans for Solaris are ready as well, and not something I or others without an enterprise budget will want to hear..

By: Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:55:23 +0000

In Oracle’s defense, this deal was hammered out over the weekend. It’s far too early to say definitely how OpenSolaris will be impacted. But opensolarisnoob, you’ve raised an interesting point about the FAQ.

By: opensolarisnoob

opensolarisnoob — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:18:56 +0000

I notice the FAQ conspicuously leaves out the question of Solaris licensing and the OpenSolaris product. Will Solaris be forked to a proprietary license in the future? Will OpenSolaris exist? I guess the answer is so ugly they don’t want to talk about it yet.

By: Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:46:11 +0000

Edward: You may have a point. Plus, check out this blog from ZDNet's Dana Gardner, who predicts Oracle-Sun will partner up with HP to gang up against IBM. Interesting spin, and Gardner makes a lot of sense.

By: Edward Popoola

Edward Popoola — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:27:30 +0000

It was unimagenable. And spot on, Oracle can claim more database user base, open or closed. Buy why would Oracle want to sell off the hardware part. I think they might have a bundled product (Fastest machine + Oracle + Middleware + ERP) for enterprises at some point in the future, even if its just for the media hype.

By: Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:40:38 +0000

Hi Frankie Says: I completely agree that hardware is going to be an awkward business for Oracle. But I wonder if Oracle would really ever want to exit the hardware business. Decoupling all of those hardware employees, existing business contracts, real estate, etc. from Oracle-Sun could turn into logistical and management nightmares.