Re: [LIKELY_SPAM]Re: Oracle and Postgresql - Mailing list pgsql-general

Roberts, Jon wrote:
> > My top 10 reasons why companies pick Oracle.
>
> Do you mean they actually get these things, or they imagine they do?
>
Huh?  Companies buy Oracle all of the time.

> There certainly are a lot of false perceptions out in the world about
> Oracle, and about proprietary software in general.
>
> > 1.  24x7 Support
>
> At several different places over the years, I've seen their top-tier
> support simply not respond.
>
That is highly unusual.  I've always had excellent experience with
Oracle's support especially their top tier support.

> > 2.  Security: Patches,
>
> When they get good and ready.  There are outstanding security issues
> in Oracle that have been there for years.
>

I'm not saying Oracle is more or less secure.  I think people feel
better about security from a company like Oracle rather than a bunch of
hackers on an email list.  It is perceived as more secure by many,
especially large companies.

> > Row Level Security,
>
> I think you mean access control.  Access control has so little overlap
> with security that they really need to be discussed as separate
> subjects.
>
> > Roles,
>
> We have 'em.
>
> > encryption,
>
> We have it.
>
PG can't encrypt code.


> > protection of database code, etc.
>
> Are you saying that the fact that the source isn't legally available
> to the population at large is a feature?  If you are, it's an argument
> for security by obscurity, a system with a lot of deep known flaws.
>
No, I'm saying that if I create a function in PG, ANYONE with access to
the database can see my code.  That is not secure.  It is a security
hole for the database.


> > 3.  Software indemnification (which is open source's biggest
> > problem)
>
> Are you kidding?!?  Read the EULA for Oracle or any other proprietary
> software package and then read the BSD license.  They both indemnify
> about the same thing, i.e. nothing.  If you have any examples in case
> law that show otherwise, they'd be a great thing to bring forth.

The contracts you sign when you buy Oracle indemnify you from lawsuits.
For instance, Oracle bundles Apache with various products.  If someone
sues a company for using Oracle HTTP Server because it uses Apache and
Apache was allegedly illegally contributed to by a rogue employee, then
Oracle protects their customers.

After SCO went after companies using Linux, it is a concern of large
companies and worth the extra cost of paying Oracle for Apache rather
than using Apache all by itself.

>
> > 4.  Scalability of shared disk (Oracle RAC)
>
> RAC doesn't scale outside Oracle's sales literature, as far as I've
> seen.

I have.
>
> > 5.  Works extremely well from anything from hosting LDAP to OLTP
> > applications to data warehouses with ROLAP and MOLAP
>
> Now we're vaguely getting somewhere within shouting range of reality.
> While the first half of that is hotly debatable, they've got decent
> *OLAP.
>
Oracle Internet Directory is LDAP compliant and stored in an Oracle
database.  They have rollback which provides similar MVCC functionality
of PG.  It has also been around longer than PG MVCC.


> > 6.  Best, oldest, and most proven concurrency model for any
> > commercial database product
>
> It's none of those things.
>
Which commercial database is better?  MS SQL Server, Sybase, DB2, what?


> > 7.  Runs great on various platforms not just Linux or just Windows
>
> Is this different from some other RDBMS(s) out there, and if so, which
> one(s)?  The only "just Windows" RDBMS I've ever heard of is MS SQL
> Server, and I know of no "just Linux" ones.
>
PG doesn't scale well on Windows.  DB2 seems to work best on a
mainframe.  Sybase works best on Unix.  MS SQL Server only runs on
Windows.

> > 8.  Recruiting a senior level Oracle professional with over 10 years
> > of experience is not very difficult
>
> Finding somebody with 10 years' experience is no problem.  Finding
> somebody half-way competent is a different story.
>
> > 9.  Deep, deep discounts.  I've never seen any company pay list
> > price for Oracle products.  It has always been at least 50% off if
> > not more.
>
> 50% off a price that's bloated by 1000% or more isn't much of a
> muchness.
>
It is only the perception of a good deal.  So what?

> > 10.  Sales employees that will do anything to retain or grow your
> > business.
>
> That's just great if you prefer hookers and blow to a working RDBMS.
>
LOL.  That is pretty funny.  I'm talking about doing free work like a
proof of concepts, demonstrations of products, etc.  I've even seen
technical sales guys help out onsite for free for performance tuning an
application.

> > The initial price of the product factors into the equation for big
> > companies but when you look at all the value add of Oracle, it is
> > very tempting.
>
> Their sales and marketing people have certainly done an excellent job
> creating the perceptions above, among others, and spreading them
> around the industry.

Perception = sales.


Jon