Oracle, Sun, Open source, Commitments
Will Oracle Ditch Sun’s Open-Source Commitments?
In the next few months, I don't think much is going to change. However, I don't see Oracle continuing OpenSolaris as actively as Sun has, and I'm not sure how this would affect Java. I would like to think that Oracle would continue moving Java forward as an open-source project, but for the most part, Oracle has largely been a participant in FOSS (free and open-source software) projects where it suits the company's interests and not so much a leader in FOSS. . [...] You are here. Home Knowledge Centre Open Source Will Oracle Ditch Sun's Open-Source Commitments. [...] With the April 20 acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle, there is an impending change of guard involving the open-source community and its largest business supporter. [...]
Oracle To Sun Users: Put Away The Red Pen
The company promised to continue to develop Sun's SPARC and x86 servers, as well as the Solaris operating system, tuning them to support Oracle better, while still keeping them open and competitive as best of breed general purpose systems. Other Sun products also got a promise of continued life, although there was little or no mention of the open source MySQL database. [...] [Update. the week also saw a dent in Oracle's open source credentials, as Sun's open source chief, Simon Phipps, left the company. ]. [...] Tags. Database, linux, merger, mysql, Open Source, oracle, solaris, Storage, Sun. [...]
Execs Divided Over Oracle’s Acquisition Of MySQL
They may formalise the licensing and pricing, but we actually think Oracle might invest in MySQL more than Sun did, Alston said. Ultimately, Oracle could be a better home for MySQL. That being said, once MySQL is integrated into Oracle, it will be difficult for anyone to consider MySQL a truly independent community driven open source project. . [...] Previously, most of the reaction involved the care and feeding of the open source MySQL database, which many people believe competes directly against Oracle's highly proprietary DBs. It is a direct conflict of interest, critics claim, for the world's largest database company to own and serve as steward of a popular, free-of-charge, open source database like MySQL. [...] Oracle's official ownership of MySQL simply further supports the fact that PostgreSQL is the only real choice for organisations looking to deploy an open source database that is backed by a truly independent community, Alston said. [...]
Will Oracle Ditch Sun’s Open-Source Commitments?
It seems the company is willing to contribute where it's absolutely necessary, but it's also not interested in doing some of the long-range heavy lifting that many FOSS vendors do to move open-source forward, Brockmeier said. Maybe an infusion of Sun DNA will encourage Oracle to step up and be a more active player in FOSS. [...] Here is a list of open-source projects currently in development at Sun. [...] IBM buying Sun seemed like a mixed bag, but likely a net positive for the community. I think there's some scepticism that Oracle will step up and become a more active FOSS contributor, but one hopes that Sun's FOSS commitments will live on after the deal, Brockmeier said. [...]
Oracle To Sun Users: Put Away The Red Pen
Sun's SPARC servers are already faster than comparable servers from IBM and HP, and Solaris has more applications than other Unix versions such as IBM's AIX and HP-UX, said Culmer. Last year's Oracle OpenWorld saw a Sun system delivering 7.7 million transactions per second, using one fifth of the power of an IBM system - and this was before we put our engineering people together. . [...] One subject omitted from the main speeches was any mention of MySQL, the open source database whose associated development company is owned by Sun, and which formed a large part of European objections to Sun's acquisition by Oracle. The US meeting was told that MySQL support would be bolstered and the database would continue to develop. [...] Oracle reiterated promises to keep Solaris developing and not to kill off the open source OpenSolaris version. We are deadly serious about investing in research and development and growing the business, said Chris Armes. [...]
Oracle Set To Win Battle For MySQL
Where that list came from is the subject of some talk. Was it thoughtfully drawn up by the Oracle legal team, with help from such international open-source stars as MySQL's Zack Urlocker, Oracle Linux guru Wim Coekaerts or Sun Linux expert (and Debian Linux co-creator) Ian Murdock Or was it simply drawn from the blog of MySQL co-creator Michael (Monty) Widenius, who laid out on a platter on 12 December what Oracle needed to do to recover from the disaster it experienced in the EC hearings (Oracle's lead counsel was angry enough to have uttered. [...] There are other ramifications. Oracle, with another of its most important database competitors safely within its own jurisdiction, will be watched like a hawk by a very steamed MySQL community. Other open-source advocates and anybody who has anything to do with the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl/Ruby) enterprise stack outside the MySQL realm will do likewise. [...] No. 2. It didn't hurt that some hugely important multinational Oracle and MySQL customers Ericsson was one of them came to the aid of the company, explaining firsthand how much they used both Oracle and MySQL and why it would cripple their IT operations if Sun were to permanently sunset. [...]
What Oracle Means For Java
This also begs the question of what Oracle will do with the Sun NetBeans open-source development tools platform, which competes with the Eclipse platform. [...] Meanwhile, Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation, said, Oracle's acquisition of Sun is unequivocally good for Java. Erasing uncertainty about the future of Sun as a business does the same for Java. Historically, Oracle has been a vocal supporter of a more open Java platform. [...] If Oracle succeeds in buying Sun Microsystems, Java gets a new home - and that could be just fine according to comments. If Sun could not remain independent, and since IBM dropped its bid for the system maker, the next best place for Java to land was Oracle. [...]
Execs Divided Over Oracle’s Acquisition Of MySQL
In its 21 January decision to allow Oracle-Sun to do business in the 27-member European Union, European Commission regulators ruled that many database users consider PostgreSQL to be a credible alternative to MySQL, and that MySQL is not the only highly regarded open source database. [...] The good news is there is a proven alternative to Oracle's database. Ingres has the technology, migration tools, and global partners to support smooth migrations from proprietary databases to the benefits of open source, he said. [...] While it's true that PostgreSQL can handle any of the lightweight processing that MySQL was designed for, in reality PostgreSQL is a full-featured open source database built for high-transaction, highly scalable enterprise applications. Essentially, PostgreSQL and MySQL were designed for two different workloads. . [...]
What Oracle Means For Java
The fact that Sun licensed the Java source as GPL [General Public License] keeps anyone from doing anything interesting with it without signing a deal with Oracle anyway. . [...] Oracle's acquisition of Sun also could help reconcile the company's approach to the OSGi (Open Services Gateway initiative). Eric Newcomer, former CTO at Iona Technologies and current co-chair of the OSGi Enterprise Expert Group, said, From my point of view as OSGi EEG co-chair, I know that Oracle has been a strong supporter of the enterprise OSGi effort, and as this effort bears a strong relationship to the future direction of enterprise Java, I think it's good news. [...] IBM's commitment to a truly open JCP [Java Community Process] was a given. they've shown that for a long time by having all of their recent JSRs [Java Specification Requests] led in a truly open way. Oracle is obviously a different beast and their business practices have had more to do with vendor lock-in than creating equal playing field ecosystems. [...]
Oracle To Sun Users: Put Away The Red Pen
Sun's servers are already the number one choice for running Oracle, O'Kelly said, and other speakers repeated that fact endlessly through the morning. Last year, Oracle already used Sun hardware to make the Sun Oracle Database Machine - also known as Exadata version 2 - which could be seen as the first generation of an integrated system, said O'Kelly. [...] O'Kelly also said that Oracle would be able to sell more Sun equipment thanks to improvements in its supply chain, and echoed Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's promises to hire more staff at Sun. [...] Oracle Sun will offer better support, he said, because the two companies will not try to pass the buck and avoid blame, when customers have a problem. Most vendors spend a lot of time trying to prove it is not their fault. We cut that out. If something is wrong, we have to fix it. [...]
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