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Oracle launches "a better alternative to CentOS"

linux.oracle.com

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Re: Oracle launches "a better alternative to CentOS"

#121

Post by wdaher »

rch wrote: post #109
wdaher wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was trying to go for a "for linux nerds, by linux nerds" vibe, so I'm amused that your complaint is "This doesn't sound corporate enough". At the end of the day, my view here is that Oracle has actually produced something useful, but lots of people are blind to it, in no small part because of what ultimately boils down to zealotry (which doesn't seem like an awesome reason to me). Hence the point of trying to get t…

So, my question is: What's the story on ZFS and DTrace? I realize I could answer my own question with a little searching, but the main reason I would consider an Oracle branded Linux distribution would be for a reasonably 'official' way of getting some of what made Open Solaris compelling. Whatever the story is, I think my curiosity is predictable and common enough to warrant a mention in your article. I should note…

My understanding is: There's a DTrace beta for Linux. There are no plans to port ZFS to Linux (but, Oracle is investing a lot in making btrfs kick ass).

[1] https://blogs.oracle.com/linux/entry/dtrace_for_oracle_linux... [2] https://forums.oracle.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=234227...

Re: Oracle launches "a better alternative to CentOS"

#122

Post by acabal »

SwellJoe wrote: post #26

I'm pleased to see that evil deeds have consequences, though I'd like to see Oracle suffer a little (OK, a lot) more before getting over the hump. People don't use Oracle Linux because the Open Source community doesn't trust Oracle (and they shouldn't; that mistrust has been well-earned over a couple of decades). There's a lot of reasons not to use Oracle Linux, most of them non-technical. Oracle is simply not an eth…

I came here to say I wouldn't touch any Oracle product with a 10-foot pole, but you put it so much better.

Re: Oracle launches "a better alternative to CentOS"

#123

Post by ghjm »

wdaher wrote: post #16
cagenut wrote: post #12

I've run 200+ server environments on centos4, a 40+ server cluster on centos5, and now run a 50+ server cluster on rhel6. I'm pretty much dead on their target audience here. This seems almost mean. Its a billion dollar company calling out a volunteer group of a couple of guys for being slower than them. Part of the reason I switched to rhel was exactly this graph, I didn't have a lot of faith in centos as a going con…

(Disclaimer: I had a hand in a lot of this) That's not quite the intent. Look, here's the deal: I know we all like to think that corporations are evil and the presence of corporate interests actually messes stuff up. But this really is one case where you want the oomph of bilion-dollar company making sure that you get your security updates in time. No one else is providing that. Oracle happens to be doing so, and we'…

You are saying that Oracle's goal is to make sure that CentOS customers can access the resources of a billion dollar company in order to get security patches on time.

If that were all that was going on, then Oracle would just provide funding and engineering support to CentOS.

Since you aren't doing that, one of two things must be happening:

1. This is part of a long term strategy, which means it will somehow make a play for my wallet on some future date.

2. This is not part of a long term strategy, which means it is a low-level initiative. Most likely it will chug along until the responsible middle manager retires, transfers or gets bored with it. If by some happenstance it becomes successful enough to attract the attention of top management, then goto #1.

Bottom line - Oracle is a business and wants my money. I know it, and you know it. Using free products from Oracle is like accepting a favor from Tony Soprano. Sooner or later, the bill comes due.

Re: Oracle launches "a better alternative to CentOS"

#124

Post by buster »

tlogan wrote: post #117

I know that 'hackers news' folks (Google employees?) don't like Oracle, the enterprise IT world does trust Oracle. They trust Oracle much more than they trusts Google (not hard). From outside, neutral point of view, all these corporations Oracle, Google, Facebook, Apple, etc. are equally "evil" - especially from point of view of Open Source community. Am I wrong here?

Exactly, you are not, that's why i'd rather trust RedHat with my OS then Oracle.

BUT, strange enough, i'd say Sun had a pretty good reputation as software company, great engineers and minds. In the past, i'd rather agree to use Sun Solaris rather then some Oracle Linux. (Now, that Solaris is from Oracle, i wouldn't do that anymore)

Re: Oracle launches "a better alternative to CentOS"

#125

Post by pwny »

keithpeter wrote: post #78

http://public-yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL6/3/base/i38... It took me some moments to realise that Oracle Linux 6.3 as a clone of RHEL will, of course, include libreoffice as the office package for the desktop installation as opposed to previous RHEL versions that included OpenOffice.org. There is a degree irony in this, but I imagine the number of customers using Oracle Linux as a desktop OS is small. I gather…

This has to be the funniest thing I've read today.

A permanent reminder to whoever looks into Oracle Linux of how they've treated the Open Source community.

The sweet, sweet irony.

Re: Oracle launches "a better alternative to CentOS"

#126

Post by buster »

TallGuyShort wrote: post #9

If they think they have the most compelling Linux offering out there, why go to all the trouble of explaining how close you are to Red Hat?

There is lots of commercial software out there that only runs on RHEL or is only support to be run on RHEL.

Re: Oracle launches "a better alternative to CentOS"

#128

Post by buster »

debacle wrote: post #58
jasonlingx wrote: post #15

What's their track record with Java, MySQL etc?

Fantastic, actually. They've really embraced the OSS Java community and MySQL is stronger than it has ever been. The OpenSolaris community is also thriving, and Oracle's partnership with Google has helped move Android forward leaps and bounds.

You should've put a tag in the end ;)

Re: Oracle launches "a better alternative to CentOS"

#129

Post by wdaher »

Spearchucker wrote: post #94
wdaher wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was trying to go for a "for linux nerds, by linux nerds" vibe, so I'm amused that your complaint is "This doesn't sound corporate enough". At the end of the day, my view here is that Oracle has actually produced something useful, but lots of people are blind to it, in no small part because of what ultimately boils down to zealotry (which doesn't seem like an awesome reason to me). Hence the point of trying to get t…

Useful it may be, but after more than 10 years of having to work with Oracle products and consultants, the first thing that jumped at me was ...doesn't Oracle Linux cost money? A: Oracle Linux support costs money That "support" word, right there, is the thing that makes me stay as far from Oracle as I can. It's like "Dude, here's the software. Have it, it's cheap/free." When things go wrong you get stung for exorbita…

I'm totally with you on fear of lockin, but for what it's worth, this particular case is basically the opposite of lock-in.

You can, at any time, switch away to CentOS, Scientific Linux, or Red Hat (if you're willing to write the check) and not have to totally reinvent your stack from scratch, since they're all binary-compatible.

Re: Oracle launches "a better alternative to CentOS"

#130

Post by rogerbinns »

runjake wrote: post #83
wdaher wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was trying to go for a "for linux nerds, by linux nerds" vibe, so I'm amused that your complaint is "This doesn't sound corporate enough". At the end of the day, my view here is that Oracle has actually produced something useful, but lots of people are blind to it, in no small part because of what ultimately boils down to zealotry (which doesn't seem like an awesome reason to me). Hence the point of trying to get t…

I think you did a good job with the vibe, although it was somewhat odd-feeling coming from an oracle.com site. It did make me double-check the URL bar with the "If you find yourself needing to buy support, have fun reinstalling your system with RHEL before anyone will talk to you". But is perfectly valid. The problem with Oracle Linux is that it's from Oracle. And I just don't trust them at all. I know I can revert b…

> ... I can revert back to CentOS or SL ...

It looks like this script is one way as well. Joel provided good advice ages ago - make sure people can switch away again: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000052.html

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