royong
26-10-2006, 21:10
ORACLE OPENWORLD, SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Today Oracle announced that it would provide the same enterprise class support for Linux as it provides for its database, middleware and applications products. Oracle starts with Red Hat Linux, removes Red Hat trademarks, and then adds Linux bug fixes.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-25-2006/0004459612&EDATE=
Seen this? Based on the release provided, it seems to me that Oracle wants a piece of the Linux pie and in doing so, is bent of taking some of it from Red Hat.
I guess lots of people will have their own views about this in the coming days and I have some of my own to add.
First up, Oracle mentions that it will provide the same enterprise class support for Linux ... err ... pause ... let's ask a question.
Does Oracle mean Linux in terms of
(a) the kernel and those packages essential for the operation of Oracle database, middleware and applications products ~or~
(b) the ENTIRE Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) distribution?
It certainly makes a lot of difference. As we all already know, RHEL is alot more than just the kernel and a few core packages. It packs a web server, mail server, file sharing server, ftp, database server and the list goes on. Would Oracle be willing to push out critical updates and patches for Sendmail, Samba, NFS, Postfix etc. long after Red Hat has stopped their releases? I'm not sure either. The announcement doesn't seem to clarify any of this. I tried looking up http://www.oracle.com but it too fails to clear show any of this information.
Essentially, Red Hat provides SEVEN years of support for every release and new versions are introducted on a predictable 18-month schedule. As with the current RHEL 4 version, this was released in Feb 2005 and will remain supported right through 2012. For the entreprise market, this is a clear distinction on their investment and how long the operating system is going to last. This leaves me wondering how the following statement from the release can be justified.
Currently, Red Hat only provides bug fixes for the latest version of its software. This often requires customers to upgrade to a new version of Linux software to get a bug fixed.
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison goes on to add ...
"We believe that better support and lower support prices will speed the adoption of Linux, and we are working closely with our partners to make that happen,"
Mmm, its true that Oracle is indeed offering lower support prices than that of Red Hat but what's the business model and motive behind it?
If Oracle is wildly successfully in its UNBREAKABLE LINUX support program, Oracle will then be required to carry its own development, testing and maintenance team. Wouldn't this be a duplicate of what Red Hat already has? Furthermore, any binary patch release from Oracle will not be verified by Red Hat and therefore will not get the same assurances of compatibility within the Red Hat ecosystem.
Is Oracle looking towards building up its own facilities/resources and thereafter evolve its own derivative of RHEL, branding its own version of Linux, like what has been wildly reported weeks before?
Is Oracle looking to "soften-up" Red Hat sufficiently to acquire it?
By offering an alternative to the official maintainer, does Oracle hope to garner subscriptions from existing Oracle customers or from the non-oracle clientele? Customers running Oracle solutions are already part of the Oracle ecosystem. Is there a need to tie them in further? The Oracle / Red Hat partnership has been on-going for the past 7 years. Oracle support staff are trained to handle RHEL based issues and that seems to be a well-oiled support scheme. On the other extreme, would a RHEL subscriber on Red Hat Network (RHN) be tempted to cross over to Oracle’s Unbreakable Linux Network (ULN) for some discounts? The steepest being a 25% discount over the USD$2499 charged by RHN?
RHN Prices - USD$2499, USD$1499, USD$799, USD$349
ULN Prices - USD$1999, USD$1199, USD$99
My guess --- this is a knee-jerk reaction in response the recent consolidation that Red Hat has made with its acquistion of JBOSS. I seriously doubt that Oracle truely believes that building and maintaining a derivative of RHEL would bring them closer to the customer and complete a full stack.
Furthermore, with the prices quoted by Oracle for its UNBREAKABLE LINUX support program at USD$99, USD$999 and USD$1999 per annum per system for unlimited processors, this will only make up a very insignificiant portion of the nett earnings, if any. Have you seen how much Oracle charges in licensing for a Oracle deployment?
Red Hat has responded by running its own UNFAKEABLE LINUX campaign of its own. Details available at http://www.redhat.com/promo/unfakeable/
I guess this is only the beginning ...
Today Oracle announced that it would provide the same enterprise class support for Linux as it provides for its database, middleware and applications products. Oracle starts with Red Hat Linux, removes Red Hat trademarks, and then adds Linux bug fixes.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-25-2006/0004459612&EDATE=
Seen this? Based on the release provided, it seems to me that Oracle wants a piece of the Linux pie and in doing so, is bent of taking some of it from Red Hat.
I guess lots of people will have their own views about this in the coming days and I have some of my own to add.
First up, Oracle mentions that it will provide the same enterprise class support for Linux ... err ... pause ... let's ask a question.
Does Oracle mean Linux in terms of
(a) the kernel and those packages essential for the operation of Oracle database, middleware and applications products ~or~
(b) the ENTIRE Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) distribution?
It certainly makes a lot of difference. As we all already know, RHEL is alot more than just the kernel and a few core packages. It packs a web server, mail server, file sharing server, ftp, database server and the list goes on. Would Oracle be willing to push out critical updates and patches for Sendmail, Samba, NFS, Postfix etc. long after Red Hat has stopped their releases? I'm not sure either. The announcement doesn't seem to clarify any of this. I tried looking up http://www.oracle.com but it too fails to clear show any of this information.
Essentially, Red Hat provides SEVEN years of support for every release and new versions are introducted on a predictable 18-month schedule. As with the current RHEL 4 version, this was released in Feb 2005 and will remain supported right through 2012. For the entreprise market, this is a clear distinction on their investment and how long the operating system is going to last. This leaves me wondering how the following statement from the release can be justified.
Currently, Red Hat only provides bug fixes for the latest version of its software. This often requires customers to upgrade to a new version of Linux software to get a bug fixed.
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison goes on to add ...
"We believe that better support and lower support prices will speed the adoption of Linux, and we are working closely with our partners to make that happen,"
Mmm, its true that Oracle is indeed offering lower support prices than that of Red Hat but what's the business model and motive behind it?
If Oracle is wildly successfully in its UNBREAKABLE LINUX support program, Oracle will then be required to carry its own development, testing and maintenance team. Wouldn't this be a duplicate of what Red Hat already has? Furthermore, any binary patch release from Oracle will not be verified by Red Hat and therefore will not get the same assurances of compatibility within the Red Hat ecosystem.
Is Oracle looking towards building up its own facilities/resources and thereafter evolve its own derivative of RHEL, branding its own version of Linux, like what has been wildly reported weeks before?
Is Oracle looking to "soften-up" Red Hat sufficiently to acquire it?
By offering an alternative to the official maintainer, does Oracle hope to garner subscriptions from existing Oracle customers or from the non-oracle clientele? Customers running Oracle solutions are already part of the Oracle ecosystem. Is there a need to tie them in further? The Oracle / Red Hat partnership has been on-going for the past 7 years. Oracle support staff are trained to handle RHEL based issues and that seems to be a well-oiled support scheme. On the other extreme, would a RHEL subscriber on Red Hat Network (RHN) be tempted to cross over to Oracle’s Unbreakable Linux Network (ULN) for some discounts? The steepest being a 25% discount over the USD$2499 charged by RHN?
RHN Prices - USD$2499, USD$1499, USD$799, USD$349
ULN Prices - USD$1999, USD$1199, USD$99
My guess --- this is a knee-jerk reaction in response the recent consolidation that Red Hat has made with its acquistion of JBOSS. I seriously doubt that Oracle truely believes that building and maintaining a derivative of RHEL would bring them closer to the customer and complete a full stack.
Furthermore, with the prices quoted by Oracle for its UNBREAKABLE LINUX support program at USD$99, USD$999 and USD$1999 per annum per system for unlimited processors, this will only make up a very insignificiant portion of the nett earnings, if any. Have you seen how much Oracle charges in licensing for a Oracle deployment?
Red Hat has responded by running its own UNFAKEABLE LINUX campaign of its own. Details available at http://www.redhat.com/promo/unfakeable/
I guess this is only the beginning ...