Blog: Pete Loshin

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More Rumors about Oracle Linux

It makes sense that a company selling a full-spectrum of business intellgence/database management software would want to be able to package it all together from the OS on up. And the world continues to speculate on the possibility that Oracle might just be getting ready to do that (see my previous post, Oracle to Microsoft: Drop Dead?).

Computer Business Review/Online ran another article about the possibility just a few days ago, Oracle Linux rumor puts pressure on Red Hat. The biggest news is that now an analyst with investment bank Jefferies and Co is repeating the rumor that started circulating last April.

Whatever you think about Oracle, Linux and Microsoft, it's worth looking at the Slashdot.org discussion. If you don't mind sifting through the chaff, there's a lot of good wheat there.

For one thing, if Oracle were to offer an Oracle-tweaked and optimized Linux distribution, it would likely work better for more users out of the box. It would certainly be easier and faster to install on a new system.

For another thing, Oracle could partner wth a hardware company to offer a "complete database-backed application server in a box" product line, with OS, webserver, database, and whatever other (open source) software is necessary to deliver a turnkey product.

When the bottom is falling out of the market for software because so much high-qualty software is now available for free, smart software companies will get into the business of selling something else--whether it is turnkey hardware or software services (another possibility if Oracle goes down the Linux path).

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