Re: [pgsql-advocacy] Oracle buys Innobase - Mailing list pgsql-general

Hi,

Well, if the PostgreSQL developers would be hired away from the project
with big money, would that not mean, that the project would be a good
path to earn a lot of money. So, new talented developers could join the
project and see that as a path to high salary jobs??

Rgs,

Jussi


Bruce Momjian wrote:

>Here is a followup to this email.  A few people asked me questions off
>list, and here are my replies:
>
>[ Comment mentioning Open Office and Mozilla have not been attacked.]
>
>Cconsider that one thing that has restrained Microsoft (and previously
>IBM) was US Department of Justice oversight.  Oracle does not have such
>oversight, so they are more likely to act aggressively. Basically, just
>because attacks have not happened in the Linux or Open Office areas
>(Microsoft territory) does not mean they will not happen in the database
>area.  Oracle has a history of aggressive activity, and it has shown
>with MySQL now.  I doubt many would have thought Oracle would have
>purchased technology that MySQL depends upon before it happened.
>
>Oracle certainly will not win, and I think they know that, but as
>project leaders, we should try to be defensive to prevent attacks from
>inflicting harm to the project.
>
>[ Comment asking what we can do to protect ourselves.]
>
>We can't do much, actually.  The trademark thing can be secured, but
>other than that, I see no other defenses we could use.  We can't prevent
>people from being hired, and we can't guard against patent attacks.
>
>I am willing to write up something for our web site if people think that
>would be helpful.
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Bruce Momjian wrote:
>
>
>>We have entered a new phase in the possible attacks on PostgreSQL.
>>
>>The purchase of InnoDB clearly shows Oracle is ready to expend money to
>>slow down competitive database technology.  Now that MySQL has been
>>attacked, we should expect to be the next target.
>>
>>Let's assume Oracle is willing to spend 1% of their revenue or net
>>income on attacking PostgreSQL.  Given this financial statement:
>>
>>    http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=ORCL&annual
>>
>>that would be USD $20-100 million.  (The Oracle financial statement will
>>eventually disclose the purchase price of InnoDB, and we can use that as
>>a minimum amount they would be willing to spend.)
>>
>>Now, I think Oracle realizes that the database will eventually become a
>>commodity based on their purchase of Peoplesoft and other application
>>technology.  However, every financial period they delay that time is
>>more profit for them, so it is a cost/benefit of how much it is worth to
>>slow down PostgreSQL.  Obviously they thought the InnoDB purchase was
>>worth it to slow down or control MySQL.  Our goal should be to make the
>>cost of attacks higher than the benefit.
>>
>>Here are the three most likely attacks on our project:
>>
>>o  Hiring
>>
>>Oracle could hire a large portion of our paid or volunteer developers,
>>thereby slowing down the project.  Individuals would probably be
>>approach as "We like your work on PostgreSQL and would like your
>>expertise in improving Oracle", but of course once hired what they did
>>for Oracle would be unimportant.  What would be important is what they
>>_don't_ do for PostgreSQL.
>>
>>o  Trademark
>>
>>Marc Fournier owns the PostgreSQL trademark and domain names.  He could
>>be attacked, perhaps by hiring him to do a job, causing it to fail, then
>>suing him to obtain the trademark, and therefore the right to own the
>>domain names.  The trademark has not been enforced, and it would be hard
>>to enforce at this stage, but I think it would be effective in gaining
>>control of the domain names.
>>
>>o  Patents
>>
>>Most technology people agree the software patent system is broken, but
>>it could be a potent weapon against us, though we have shown we can
>>efficiently remove patent issue from our code.
>>
>>
>>There is probably nothing Oracle can do to permanently harm us, but
>>there are a variety of things they can do to temporarily slow us down,
>>and it is likely a attempt will be made in the future.  There are also
>>possible threats to PostgreSQL support companies, though they are
>>somewhat independent of the project.
>>
>>--
>>  Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
>>  pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 359-1001
>>  +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  13 Roberts Road
>>  +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073
>>
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