CowboyNeal Reviews Oracle Linux 170
What is Oracle Linux?
On its face, Oracle Linux feels like just another Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) derivative. It uses anaconda for an installer. It uses yum for handling packages. Configuration is handled just like RHEL, CentOS, or Scientific Linux. To be honest, the reasons why anyone would switch to Oracle Linux aren't immediately apparent after installing. It feels like nearly any other Linux with the Oracle name bolted on. Under the hood, however, are some rather compelling features.
The Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel
I have to start off with saying that I hate the name "Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel." I've seen enough crazy stuff in my time, to know that no software is truly unbreakable. It might be pretty good, but unbreakable is like calling the Titanic unsinkable. Given a poor enough captain, or in this case, an administrator, I don't have any doubts that the kernel could be broken in at least some fashion. However, I suppose that "Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel" sounds a lot better than the "Pretty-dang-tootin'-robust Enterprise Kernel," and with a target like enterprise customers, terms like "Pretty-dang-tootin'" just won't get stuffy execs to authorize using Oracle Linux.
With that off my chest, let's see what the Unbreakable Linux Kernel does have to offer. Oracle has added a number of their own enhancements into a Linux 2.6 kernel. These include networking optimizations, NUMA optimizations, and enhancements for OCFS2, asynchronous I/O, SSD disk access, OLTP, and more. They clearly work pretty well, as back in March, Oracle submitted a TPC-C benchmark for a Sun Fire server that was the fastest x64-based non-clustered system.
Ksplice: Update Your Kernel Without Rebooting
Ksplice was acquired by Oracle roughly a year ago, and as a result is married to Oracle Linux rather nicely. Ksplice is the holy grail for any administrator who is obsessed with uptime. It gives you the ability to update your kernel, with no downtime necessary. This is by far the best reason to use Oracle Linux, but it also comes at a steep price. While support for Ksplice is present in the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel, it does nothing without the Ksplice Uptrack service enabled.
How does one get Ksplice Uptrack? It's only included with an Oracle premier support contract. While Oracle is quick to note that it costs less than a similar-tier RHEL support contract, it's also still more than most people would want to pay for just reboot-less kernel updates. Sure, there's also actual support included in the contract, but the lack of an ala carte option for just Ksplice Uptrack doesn't make a premier support contract any easier to swallow.
I should note here, that regular package updates via yum, and regular kernel updates via yum, are still totally free. If you don't mind rebooting, Ksplice isn't a must-have. If Oracle wanted to attract more customers, an ala carte option for Ksplice Uptrack would be a step in the right direction. If they wanted to really build some good will with the Linux community, they'd make Ksplice Uptrack free for everyone. I know it may sound weird to mention Oracle and good will together, but I'd never thought I'd see Oracle and "free" mentioned together either. As it is, it feels like Uptrack is being used as the bait for a support contract, when the support contract should really be able to stand on its own.
DTrace: Debugging and Troubleshooting in Real Time
To be fair, the DTrace modules can be plugged into a lot of Linux kernels already out there, but Oracle Linux has done the leg work for their users. Maybe you're not doing the sort of development that requires DTrace, but it's still something handy to have in the toolbox when something breaks. It's also a handy way to profile already running processes at any moment, with little to no impact on performance when tracing a process. Oracle maintains a long list of DTrace resources on their OpenSolaris site.
Should I give this a look?
If you're already perfectly happy with your RHEL or CentOS Linux install, Oracle Linux is a hard sell, even at the price of free. After toying about with the system, I'd say it's at least worth a hard look. As it is, you get the benefits of CentOS or Scientific Linux, with Oracle's own stuff bolted on, and their enhancements, even minus Ksplice, make a compelling argument to use Oracle Linux. If you are setting up a machine to use Oracle's database software, Oracle Linux is the best choice, since it's been designed to support Oracle DB, and is the same Linux that Oracle uses in-house. While Oracle's premier support contract is cheaper than the RHEL alternative, the actual cost of switching from RHEL to Oracle in a given case may not be. While this release is a good first step for Oracle, more options, like free Ksplice Uptrack, or even a Ksplice Uptrack subscription, would make it an easier sell.
If you'd like to give Oracle Linux a try, without having to jump through a lot of hoops, the Oracle Linux Wiki has a list of download sites.
Unsinkable Ship (Score:5, Funny)
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Just don't navigate this kernel into any icebergs.
I'm waiting for the Linux Malware called "Iceburg" - or malware that targets Oracle Linux specifically.
Oracle not worth it (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, after Oracle tries to sue the planet for their most precious IP, I really want to use their products. No thanks. The fight with The Google showed their true colors. http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=2012053015590290
As an product engineer for my company, I need to look out for sue-happy companies. This is one of them. Buh-bye.
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For all we know, Oracle is tweaking a 2004 kernel from the SuSE 9.1 days. And we don't know, because it was closed source until this announcement.
How can Oracle keep a Linux kernel closed source while distributing it?
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Re:Oracle not worth it (Score:5, Funny)
I posted without thinking
Chill dude, this is Slashtwat, you still be fly!
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And we don't know, because it was closed source until this announcement.
That's a huge assumption. Reality is everybody knows they track the RHEL5/6 releases and add their patches to those and all the kernel version information is a google away.
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That's an error in the article. It's a 3.x derived kernel but it reports as 2.6.x for compatibility reasons. Even "uname -a" shows it as 2.6.x. Just reviewed it for one of the mags.
In a nutshell, the kernel enhancements offer some improved performance on massive hardware, such as the stuff that Oracle is selling. The appeal of the distro is a business one. Server admins like the idea of something that has been tested and certified by Oracle from the hardware to the kernel, all the way up to OracleDB. Other
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And Linux Mint is just what a Fortune 500 company wants running their mission-critical systems.
https://oss.oracle.com/ol6/docs/RELEASE-NOTES-UEK2-en.html [oracle.com]
which includes this little tid-bit
"The Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel is available as binary RPM packages that can be installed from Oracle's public yum repository as well as the Unbreakable Linux Network. The kernel's source code is available via a public git source code repository from http://oss.oracle.com/git/?p=linux-uek-2.6.39.git [oracle.com]"
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Who needs to run a non-free version of Linux?
People who buy expensive commercial software, that's who.
If you are already running the megabuck database, a few more bucks for RHEL or SLES is really not a big deal.
If you aren't already giving Oracle a big pile of money EVERY YEAR, then their version of Linux is pretty irrelevant.
Re:Oracle not worth it (Score:5, Informative)
The worst was Crystal Reports. We used one of their products that cost $650 per license in 2004 and was over $15,000 for an equivalent license in 2009.
I have friends and relatives that work with Oracle and they're generally very pleased with their products. I respect that. But I'm not going to advocate using Oracle unless my employer has enough cash that they can swallow doubling of their proprietary software licensing costs without taking more than a few percent off their annual profits. Fortune 1000 companies are in that position, but the bulk of the economy is not.
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Oracle is expensive. For most medium sized or less companies, I really couldn't recommend it - it's just too expensive for what it does, and there are a lot of other solutions which are more cost effective.
Once you scale up to large companies, with it departments with hundreds of people, and user bases of thousands to tens of thousands, then the cost per user makes it more reasonable. If you need enterprise scale products, then Oracle software is a good solution.
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Oracle *database* is expensive. OEL is free.
Re:Oracle not worth it (Score:5, Informative)
Are you kidding? Oracle loves to spout rhetoric about how they have made their product so automated that you don't need a DBA anymore. Oracle also sells outsourcing services.
So you are wrong. Oracle is actively trying to outsource your DBA job to India.
Clearly you don't know Oracle.
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> So, what does this have to do with using Oracle Linux?
Ask the guy who actually brought it up.
>
> Nothing..... you just want to flame since you probably make you think it makes you look cool. It doesn't.
I just set the record straight. Stop swimming in the kool-aid.
Re:Oracle not worth it (Score:5, Funny)
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Considering you have a pretty low slashdot id
That's not a low slashdot id,...
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Yes, I can see that your experience with "./" is extensive. It's almost as impressive as your familiarity with logical fallacies.
Despite your appeal to authority, you are not the only one with applicable experience: I have been a Unix admin in the Fortune 500 world for nearly 20 years, currently assigned as Senior SA to one of the largest Oracle databases in the world, and am currently supporting an initiative to convert our entire production environment from HPUX to RHEL. The customer in question is insist
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Oracle has withheld certification from RHEL 6
Right, this is directly from Oracle's support website, on the certification of Oracle 11.2 :
Certification Information for Oracle Database on Linux x86-64 [ID 1304727.1]
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 - Database 11.2.0.3 and higher
Red Hat kernel 2.6.32-71.el6.x86_64 or later
Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK R1) 2.6.32-100.28.5.el6.x86_64 or later
There's the document id. If you have access to Oracle support, you can look it up.
Ok, so why are you making things up???? Just to be cool to attach Oracle? Fun making baseless statements?
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My info is out of date. As of April, when the documents for this project were signed, over my objections, that certification was approved for OLE only. I apologize for making a false statement on the point of current certification. The rest of my objections stand: that was a dirty and underhanded tactic to secure support contracts and further the process of lock-in that I'm already having to deal with on a daily basis, and there is not a meaningful enough difference between the products for there to have ev
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Just because I state a non-popular opinion, instead of debate, I get modded to hell. It looks like all of the cool kids are attacking Oracle these days, so anything other than full retard anit-Oracle is acceptable.
When you resort to ad hominem attacks ("freetards," "full retard," etc.), you've already lost the debate.
But let's look at Oracle's track record. Their handling of OpenSolaris leaves a lot to be desired, to say the least. I could go on, but I guess you don't want to hear anything from "freetards."
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wahwahwah. Do you realize that the post the first whiner is complaining was "modded to hell" is now at +5? If people like yourself and that whiner are the remaining nugget of "old slashdot," then good riddance.
Re:Oracle not worth it (Score:5, Funny)
--Eh? What u say?
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Its just those kids on the lawn again, Dad.
winning post (Score:1)
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> Oracle are made up of vampire squids
That seems reason enough....
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Whining and complaining about Oracle's software just makes you look like a child.
Do you know what else makes someone look like a child? This:
Once you grow up and get into the real world...
And this:
So, if you're a screaming freetard...
You, sir, simply don't deserve your current 5, Insightful moderation.
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"...they don't care, you don't have the money."
That reminds me of this Youtube video about what happend to OpenSolaris:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zRN7XLCRhc#t=38m25s [youtube.com]
"Think of Larry Eleson as a lawn mower... the lawn mower just mows the lawn. You stick your hand in their, it will chop it off. The end. You don't think the lawn mower hates me. The lawn mower doesn't give a shit about you. The lawn mower can't hate you. ... the lawn mower doesn't care about Open Solaris,... the lawn mower can't have empath
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You want to know something? Because it's so expensive, then the companies that can afford it can also afford to pay high amounts for the people who look after it, and that's where I come in.
Or in the case of my company, because Oracle's software costs so god-damned much, they can't pay us as much as we'd like...
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OLE is being pushed as a competitor with RHEL. Despite being virtually identical in every meaningful way, Oracle makes wild claims of superiority, then certifies its products on only its own derivative OS. These are dirty, underhanded tricks, and anyone who doesn't understand that they will fleece their customers once they obtain lock-in via proprietary modifications is too naive to be making purchasing decisions and/or lacks sufficient experience with Oracle products.
Satisfied? How much are they paying you
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Yes, so Oracle are trying their best to get a complete lock in.
Why does that matter to you?
Are you an Oracle customer? Well, the OS is free and open source, so you can use if if you want, or fork it.
You're not an Oracle customer? Then what really is the point of attacking? How different is Oracle from MS or Microsoft? You don't think they didn't try their best for 100% lock-in?
Re:Oracle not worth it (Score:4, Interesting)
There is no technical reason why you shouldn't use OLE over SL/CENT/RHEL. This is all about their sun acquisition. let me have time for my tea leaves to settle to the bottom of my glass here.... Here's what I see. Oracle buys aligning sun micro systems who got their hat handed to them by Linux, but not just by Linux, but by Redhat . Redhat is the largest kernel contributor by far. This implies that the pay the most kernel developers. Redhat is funded by enterprise customers by and large. Not small shops who only need CentOS, but by the Shops that are more than willing to use Orcale DBs. Lets just consider for a moment that Oracle managed to switch everyone using oracle from RHEL to OEL. What kind of impact would that have on RHEL? Enough to put a dent into it? Enough to put RHEL out of business? Or enough to keep them from really throwing their support at the kernel? I don't know. But in the long run I think Oracle see Linux as the enemy, and their going to try and take it down by going after Redhat. I think Oracle is a much bigger threat to Linux than MS ever was, because Oracle is going to target Linux in the enterprise space, not the desktop. Do I think it will actually work? No. But do I think this is their plan? yes. I think Redhat could stop this amazingly quickly, by simply offering RHEL for free w/o a support contract. But they stopped that for a reason I can't remember long ago. Hell Redhat could just write their own damn script to port Cent over to RHEL. Perhaps push a fresher kernel choice out more often as well. So to recap, don't use OLE, because they don't actually LIKE Liniux, and will do everything they can to hurt it.
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They almost do just by not giving CentOS or any other RHEL derivative a hard time.
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Almost. But perhaps it would help if they made it official, perhaps by coming up with their own script, which I'm sure they could do in their sleep if they wanted to.
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There is no technical reason why you shouldn't use OLE over SL/CENT/RHEL. This is all about their sun acquisition.
How did you write all that without ever mentioning Solaris? There is no technical reason why you should use Linux over Solaris... unless it is free. If you already have the license, if you're already running Oracle on Solaris... why would you switch? Oracle Linux was around before the Sun acquisition... it was Oracle's attempt to divorce Sun, ironically enough. But once Oracle has acquired Sun and Solaris along with it... what is the point of their continued development on and pushing Oracle Linux over Sola
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That's sort of my point. Getting rid of Linux would leave only Solaris as a place for all of us Linux admins to go. Sure there is AIX but we all know IBM is a fickle mistress. Hell, I didn't even bring up IBM which is the other major DB vendor out there. And they've invested a huge amount in Linux on their systems. My real point is that Oracle is in one of the few positions to go after Linux in the enterprise space. And their tact could well be weakening Linux by weakening RedHat.
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That's sort of my point. Getting rid of Linux would leave only Solaris as a place for all of us Linux admins to go. Sure there is AIX but we all know IBM is a fickle mistress. Hell, I didn't even bring up IBM which is the other major DB vendor out there. And they've invested a huge amount in Linux on their systems. My real point is that Oracle is in one of the few positions to go after Linux in the enterprise space. And their tact could well be weakening Linux by weakening RedHat.
(my emphasis) Interesting... probably true, but I think they listen to their users. Remember a decade ago when IBM pulled AIX in favor of Linux and the greybeards in the field complained... and AIX returned, and has stayed. And your point is well received... Oracle weakens everything they touch. Oracle... makes people sad. So I shouldn't have implied the current Oracle "Solaris" was superior or even equal, not after Oracle has offended so many important contributors. I should have bumped illumos and it's b [illumos.org]
Re:Oracle not worth it (Score:5, Insightful)
So, as predicted, my comment gets moderated downwards (at least at the time I'm posting this), and all of the comments trashing Oracle have been moderated up.
...
Geez, at least try to make a technical comment about why Oracle's Linux is a poor choice. Ad hominen attacks may make you feel good, but it doesn't add anything to the discussion on the merits of Oracle Linux.
Maybe you got modded down because you said this:
Once you grow up and get into the real world...
And this:
So, if you're a screaming freetard...
Those sure look like ad hominem attacks to me. Oh, but look, they were coming from you. So it's okay for you to ad hominem other people, but it's not okay for them to ad hominem you?
You, bungo, are one of the reasons Slashdot is becoming a less cool place. Your unnecessary harsh and insulting post gets 5, Insightful, and it's filled insults and flamebait. Shame on you.
"It's significantly cheaper than RHEL support" (Score:1)
What does that mean. Both vendors likely provide many packages with various options and configurations and discounts. How about a "for example".
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As with many salesperson-driven firms, the price varies A LOT from customer to customer.
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Since then, Oracle's pricing has been pretty consistent.
Keep in mind that Oracle needs to be very sensitive to potential claims of predatory pricing, as well as the fact that they need to give the US government "most-favored-pricing" terms... meaning that if they steeply discount for one customer, they'll need to offer the same pricing to the US governmen
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While Oracle is quick to note that it costs less than a similar-tier RHEL support contract
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http://www.oracle.com/us/media/calculator/linuxtco/index.html [oracle.com]
Oracle? (Score:3)
Can you spell L-O-C-K-I-N?
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Your sig (Score:2)
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Oracle? No thanks. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Oracle? No thanks. (Score:5, Insightful)
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This is the Oracle that writes poorly implemented and poorly documented installers for their weirdly designed (and poorly documented) database software? Still not interested.
But. But. But... It's unBREAKable!
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Poorly implemented?? How can you say that? Is it because when you try to install and older version of their middleware on a newer OS it complains because of the name of the screensaver? Or because they hide their log files in so many different places that you have to play "Where's Waldo" to trouble shoot anything?
But they have gotten better, haven't they? They used to complain when you installed their software that the account wasn't named "root." It didn't matter if the account had the permission that wer
I'm Interested! (Score:3, Insightful)
Suddenly, a wild Oracle appears [i.qkme.me]!
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When did Oracle try to kill Android Linux?
dtrace (Score:4, Interesting)
http://dtrace.org/blogs/ahl/2011/10/10/oel-this-is-not-dtrace/ [dtrace.org]
http://dtrace.org/blogs/ahl/2012/02/23/dtrace-oel-update/ [dtrace.org]
Has Cowboyneal tried it?
Faster updates (Score:2)
My company tries to enforce the use of Oracle Linux in our datacenter so I mostly wind up with it by default. I generally let the build guys do that and then I run a script to convert it to CentOS when I actually need to use it in production. That way, it mirrors what most of our developers have on their desk. The only real benefit I see for OEL is the faster turnaround for RH updates. In real-world usage, they've been pretty much the same for our typical use cases (busy LAMP boxes). If I were to avoid
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Who said anything about being an administrator? These are development machines for developers. Once things disappear off into production land, I let those people sort out what they want to run out in public and I know that our code will continue to work.
Best,
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Rather than having to actively fight such a thing, which you will undoubtedly burn out from in time, why not get them to stop pushing it? There was an article on slashdot a couple weeks ago about how lousy a prospect OEL is. Maybe find that and give it to the PHBs?
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So you're not a terrible administrator, you're just a terrible storyteller. Anyone reading your initial post would come away thinking you're talking about switching the OS on your production servers.
Really? (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh yeah, I want to run right out there and do business with a company that seems to be in the business of suing people over every little thing - like saying their database server products suck... or that you found a way to make money with one of their products they didn't think of... or that you use one of their products in a way they didn't think of themselves and charge you outrageous fees for...
If I had wanted that, I would have bought copious amounts of SCO products to keep Daryl McBride employed. Let me put it more simply to you, for those at Oracle who might care:
I'd rather eat razor sharp ground glass than use your products.
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Oh yeah, I want to run right out there and do business with a company that seems to be in the business of suing people over every little thing
If I had wanted that, I would have bought copious amounts of SCO products to keep Daryl McBride employed. Let me put it more simply to you, for those at .... who might care:
I'd rather eat razor sharp ground glass than use your products.
-- Posted with love from my iPad
Re:Really? (Score:5, Insightful)
Perhaps they are - and your right - I don't spend millions on software, so I would not be a threat to Oracle in their 'pond' to use your term. The point I was trying to make is that I am not about to set out and use their product FOR FREE that would put me into bed with them. Their products are a mess, their customer service is awful (I've worked for a few Oracle customers - they ALWAYS wished they had never entered into the agreement to use their gear - ALWAYS), and their corporate culture is nasty.
Sure, I could rant about Microsoft too - but they aren't the authors of this software, or even a subject of this article - so why should I?
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Oracle aren't small time dealers, you really have nothing to worry about by using their version of Linux. They aren't going to get you hooked for free, then squeeze you dry. What Oracle do is charge you a lot for the first hit, then try to squeeze you dry.
If you're not already using Oracle's products, then they don't really care about you, you're not the target audience.
My question would be, why on earth would anyone who already isn't using Oracle would want to use their Linux - I can't think of a single re
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Gee, the anti-Oracle tools are out in force today. Modded down to 0 for being a troll? Don't worry, I hit the karma cap back when karma was still being shown. You'll get hit back in metamoderation.
So, what don't you agree with?
The fact that unless you're a huge company already using Oracle's products, that you're not the target audience for Oracle Linux?
Fine, instead of modding me down non-stop, have the balls to actually make a comment and engage in useful discussion.
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Gee, the anti-Oracle tools are out in force today
# dpkg --purge oracle-tools
#
too late, mine are gone. didn't know I needed them anymore. can I borrow yours, maybe?
Missing question...... (Score:4, Insightful)
The only question I really wanted to hear answered is "Do you guarantee that once I've converted all of my servers to your free product, it will still be available further down the line? Or, to put it another way, am I likely to end up having to pay for the binary rpms or do a full re-install of CentOS later because you've changed the licencing and started issuing source rpms only"?
Re:Missing question...... (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, they do guarantee. It's no secret, the product lifecycle is on their support website.
Also, what Oracle have put together is all open sourced, so you're free to fork it if you want.
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Yes, they do guarantee. It's no secret, the product lifecycle is on their support website.
Anything like the Oracle Database for Itanic lifecycle?
Fuck Oracle (Score:5, Insightful)
Kernel enhancement translation: (Score:1)
These include networking optimizations, NUMA optimizations, and enhancements for OCFS2, asynchronous I/O, SSD disk access
NUMA is non-uniform memory access. Basically some supercomputers have memory dedicated to a processor that's much faster than regular memory (I believe this is NOT the same thing as a cache, and is directly accessible).
OCFS2 Oracle Clustered Filesystem. So a filesystem from Oracle.
Asynchronous IO, SSD disk Access, networking optimizations: Kind of vague, so I don't know what the improv
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NUMA is for any multi-processor system. Even dual-Xeon boards can benefit from NUMA, because each processor has its own memory banks and controller, though the fast QPI links do help in that situation. It becomes progressively more important with larger systems where inter-CPU bandwidth becomes strained. Any improvement here is most welcome.
It really sounds like they applied a few in-house patches to streamline performance. I would rather see these sent back upstream, but again, this is Oracle we're tal
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You don't need to have a super computer to be using NUMA, current generation servers with multiple CPUs with integrated memory controllers use NUMA.
Not supercomputers anymore (Score:2)
Oracle sucks (Score:4, Interesting)
They make everything more difficult than it should be. They've given me headaches every time I've had to deal with them over the last 20 years. Pre-sales support, installation, bug research/reporting/resolution are all a royal pain. If you're in the process of buying Oracle software and they try to push *their* Linux on you, push back. Ask them why they are unable/unwilling to support industry standard distributions.
Re:Oracle sucks (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Oracle sucks (Score:5, Interesting)
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Speaking of making things more difficult than they should be, the ISO images for installation are not readily available for download. There is a heinous registration [oracle.com] form but no promise of the ISOs even if you fill in the form (with either fake data or real). If Oracle is going to be serious about establishing a distro, it has got to be available at all the usual download sites along site CentOS, Debian and the other established distros.
Yeah, like you can download RHEL without having to buy a subscription, and without having to register or anything, and its a full version, not some crappy evaluation version. Oh, wait..... [redhat.com]
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Ask them why they are unable/unwilling to support industry standard distributions.
Oracle support Redhat, Asianux, SLES10, SLES11 for the latest version of their database.
Also, if you're running the correct kernel version and other associated libraries, then they will also support you.
Pick your distribution, just make sure you're running the required versions of the various packages, and you're fine.
If, on the other hand, you want to pay for Linux support, then yes, Oracle want you to run thier Linux (or Redhat). You can't say this isn't reasonable. Do you expect Redhat to support SLES,
What about the "killer app" (Score:5, Interesting)
For those who are still waiting for the latest Oracle DB to be certified with RHEL 6, this appears to be one more reason to switch. Giving away an OracleDB certified OS seems like a pretty good ploy on their part. Then choke out Red Hat.
Not going to get any karma points for this move, but I see what they've done here.
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yeah, it makes a lot of sense. There's nothing wrong with another supported Linux distro in the datacentre, and all those companies that require supported stuff can have Linux running their favourite DB (Oracle DB is good to be fair) and not install it on Windows like has been happening a lot. If they say "Linux is the preferred (or best) option" then Microsoft-only customers will start to get over their obsession and look at this alternative, and hopefully be pleasantly surprised.
As for paid-for ksplice up
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Oracle is now certified with RHEL 6. (http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/1563775).
Not sure about all the Oracle haters, but our issues have less to do with lockin and open source and more to do with system integration. Our other enterprise tools aren't certified with OEL, we end up supporting another HW stack (ie where do you think the IBM/HP certification for x86 is at...), on and on.
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As I mentioned in a previous post (which has probably been downmodded to hell, like most of my other posts), Oracle has already certified RHEL 6 with Oracle 11.2
Here's the info from Oracle support website:
Certification Information for Oracle Database on Linux x86-64 [ID 1304727.1]
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 - Database 11.2.0.3 and higher
Red Hat kernel 2.6.32-71.el6.x86_64 or later
Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK R1) 2.6.32-100.28.5.el6.x86_6
Solaris (Score:4, Insightful)
Fuck em (Score:5, Insightful)
While support for Ksplice is present in the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel, it does nothing without the Ksplice Uptrack service enabled.
Any software company that locks on-disk, local software to an ongoing support contract can go fuck themselves. Ksplice should be part of the kernel proper; Oracle are holding back progress, plain and simple.
Re: (Score:3)
your comment: plus over nine thousand.
Fuckers. Oracle: ruining everything they touch, in one way or another.
ksplice *is* part of the kernel proper (Score:3)
I have used ksplice, back when it was an experimental project before Oracle bought it.
The core ksplice code is part of the kernel. The issue is that in order to actually create the updates, you need to build fixes against the running code (like building a kernel module), then you need to have a developer go over the fixes and make sure that the automated tools didn't miss anything (and if they did then fix things up). Also, there are some cases that the automated tools can't handle in which case the devel
Re: (Score:2)
Nothing is stopping you from creating your own fixes
Aside from the fact that Oracle took down the (formerly open source) tools required to generate your own KSplice patches when they bought out KSplice... good luck finding them now!
RHEL Admin (Score:3)
need to phone home to get the "patches" (Score:3)
The core ksplice code is part of the kernel. The issue is that in order to actually create the updates, you need to build fixes against the running code (like building a kernel module), then you need to have a developer go over the fixes and make sure that the automated tools didn't miss anything (and if they did then fix things up). Also, there are some cases that the automated tools can't handle in which case the developer has to write the fix from scratch.
Nothing is stopping you from creating your own fi
As someone who's forced to use OEL... (Score:1)
Quite honestly, I see rather few compelling reasons to run Oracle Enterprise Linux. Really, the only reason I can see for it is if you're going to be running Oracle applications (database, Fusion, etc.,) under the "one throat to choke" point of view. I've had some unpleasant discoveries with OEL, not the least of which is that some of the low level filesets are rather significantly out of date.
Here, if it's an Oracle app, it'll probably get hosted on OEL. If it's not from Oracle, we'll probably host it o
Finally, A Free version of Linux (Score:1)
I've been wanting to try linux but up until now it was too expensive.
How much did they pay you? (Score:1)
Every independent review has given OEL similar or marginally lower ratings than vanilla RHEL. Rightly so, since the only difference is a handful of proprietary, bolt-on modifications that even heavy Oracle DB users will probably never use.
Oracle produced this OS, which is virtually identical to RHEL in every meaningful way, certified their DB on this OS, then withheld that certification from the RHEL release from which OEL originates. It's a dirty and underhanded tactic to muscle into the OS market, and the
No Way (Score:5, Informative)
I'm a Java Developer. I've had the displeasure of being forced into contact with Oracle after they borged Java and several other technologies I use.
Their documentation is almost deliberately terrible - perhaps to sell support and classes. They are very difficult to communicate with.
They have very little regard for users and developers.
Their help forums fun on bad technology that is very old that even someone putting up a personal web site would be ashamed to use.
Nothing against Oracle... (Score:5, Insightful)
Got nothing in particular against Oracle. We use their database products. But RHEL and Suse both being established, robust distributions that are more than good enough, there's really no compelling reason to switch. Combine that with an inherent (but not absolutely deal-killing) distrust of Oracle's business practices, and we'll just stay where we are, thanks.
Bloated irrelevant dinosaur reviews same (Score:4, Funny)
But will it run... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
no, but you can load it into your Ubuntu or Mint, or compile it yourself:
http://zfsonlinux.org/ [zfsonlinux.org]