- Latest News
- Comment & Metrics
- Magazine Articles
- Jason Stamper's Blog
- Open Source Blog
- Newsletter Sign-Up
- Jason Stamper's blog
- Open sources by Dave Rosenberg & Matt Asay
- Dana Blankenhorn's open source blog
- Stephe Walli's Once More Unto the Breach
- IBM's Bob Sutor
- Sun's Simon Phipps
- Stephen O'Grady of RedMonk
- Andy Updegrove's Standards Blog
- Zack Urlocker's The Open Force
- Linux-Watch
- Glyn Moody's open...
- Mark Hinkle's EncoreOpus
- Raven Zachery’s CAOS Theory
- Kaj Arno’s blog
- Open Source Unleashed
- Open source integration on demand, anyone?
- Is iPhone 3G ready for the enterprise?
- IBM readies Requirements Composer for Jazz
- Open source alternative to Microsoft SharePoint, anyone?
- The 10 Best Open Source Rules Engines
- Open source Amazon mashup integration, with a bit of cloud computing for good measure
- Is Windows for cheapskates, and do Macs rule the US?
- Barracuda suit 'not about open source': Trend Micro
- VMware makes Linux fan new CEO
- Reasons to choose Linux # 113
- Iona bought by Progress Software
- Stoking the open source rumour mill
- Open source solution to ‘dirty data’ problem?
- Open source solves UK cancer charity challenges
- Iona slaps Apache on the back
- Sourcefire finds new CEO at Citrix
- Intalio open source BPM User Con this week
- Sourcefire readies Snort 3, comments on Barracuda offer
- 18 months into the job, Red Hat’s CEO…
- The 10 Best Linus Torvalds Quotes
- Oracle and Linux
- CodeGear adamant it will keep the faith
- Novell "gaining momentum" thanks to Linux?
- Nuxeo claims it’s flying in open source ECM
- 100 most influential tech vendors: you have to be kidding
- Virtualisation CEO says virtualisation is becoming commodity
- Could your next mortgage be from Microsoft or BT?
- SnapLogic claims really simple (open source) integration
- OOOOOF! A sucker punch to Microsoft’s Windows biz?
- MySQL CEO: it's tough for private open source firms
Open Source Weblog
Today's the day for Oracle Linux
October 25, 2006
If Oracle CEO Larry Ellison doesn't introduce Oracle Linux during his keynote speech at Oracle OpenWorld today it could make it the most disappointing presentation since Sun and Google's non-announcement.
Rumours of Oracle's entry into the Linux distribution market have been rife since Ellison suggested its potential in an interview with the FT. Investment firm Jefferies and Co recently stoked the fires prompting a Red Hat share slump.
The rumor mill now indicates that Ellison will make the announcement during his keynote at 1pm Pacific time, although reports also indicate that the announcement has the potential to fail to live up to expectations. Is Oracle simply going to rehash its existing Unbreakable Linux story?
Valleywag claims to have the scoop on the announcement while Enterprise Open Source suggests it will be non-competitive to Red Hat and Red Herring suggests that Oracle might not introduce a new operating system at all.
“Based on our conversations with Oracle executives at the user conference, we believe CEO Ellison is likely to talk about ‘Unbreakable Linux’ on Wednesday,” Red Herring quotes from a research note by Merrill Lynch analyst Kash Rangan. “Oracle is working to enhance the security of the Linux kernel and contribute to the open source community [and] it will not create a new Linux distribution intended to be competitive with Red Hat/Novell,” Rangan added.
So the whole thing could be a damp squib then? Well yes, when you consider the hype there has been about Oracle "entering" the Linux business. Oracle already provides support for Linux, albeit sharing responsibility for its database, middleware and applications running on Red Hat and Novell SUSE with those vendors.
The predicted relationship with the Ubuntu distribution makes sense given its technological maturity but commercial immaturity. Oracle wouldn't have to share support responsibilities with anyone, and could tune the operating system to to meet the requirements of its software, potentially in the form of a soft appliance.
Given that Oracle would have the opportunity to lock the operating system down and tune it, the company would be in a better position to declare it "unbreakable". So that's my prediction: not a new distribution per se, but a new Ubuntu-based "Unbreakable" configuration.
Let's see...
Comments
Post a comment
back to top