4 ms·

I don't think many people who want to use something stable like CentOS, but don't want to pay for a RHEL support contract would want to pay Oracle for RHEL-but-

I don't think many people who want to use something stable like CentOS, but don't want to pay for a RHEL support contract would want to pay Oracle for RHEL-but-with-Oracle-sprinkles-on-top

kbenson 6y ago
Not to mention Oracle is not known to leave money on the table, and if they see they can start charging for Oracle Linux because there's no large well known free version, I wouldn't put it past them. Put another way, if you jump ship from CentOS because IBM caused Red Hat to change it into a funnel to pay them money, if you landed on Oracle, you might be setting yourself up to do it all over again fairly soon.
- blaser-waffle 6y ago
  > Not to mention Oracle is not known to leave money on the table You're underselling it: Oracle grab money in a way that I would describe as "aplomb ruthlessness". They've managed to fuck no less than 3 orgs I've worked for. If they ask you for a license count or how many cores are in use, ignore them. Larry Ellison doesn't need another boat.
_-david-_ 6y ago
Oracle Linux is free with optional paid support. "Unlike many other commercial Linux distributions, Oracle Linux is easy to download and completely free to use, distribute, and update. Oracle Linux is available under the GNU General Public License (GPLv2). Support contracts are available from Oracle. " https://www.oracle.com/a/ocom/docs/027617.pdf https://www.oracle.com/a/ocom/docs/027617.pdf [PDF]
- davoneus 6y ago
  never, Ever, EVER trust Oracle. Especially with something as important as an open source product. Evidence: Oracle's Sen. VP Glueck statement that "There is no math that can justify open source from a cost perspective." No chance you'll ever see me running OEL.
  - apecat 6y ago
    Are there any license traps in Oracle Linux? Writing like this makes me very wary of putting Oracle Linux anywhere near my employer's systems https://www.computerworld.com/article/2992597/law-firm-warns-of-oracles-licensing-traps.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/2992597/law-firm-warns... https://blog.dbwatch.com/how-to-avoid-oracles-licensing-traps https://blog.dbwatch.com/how-to-avoid-oracles-licensing-trap... Then there's the famous lawn mover quote from Bryan Cantrill https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5170246 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5170246
    - TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
      Can you imagine if they had successfully purchased TikTok?
      - apecat 6y ago
        match made not in heaven but on Oracle Cloud
  - TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
    > never, Ever, EVER trust Oracle. Been burned by them before. Not at liberty to give details, but the outcome is that I never choose Oracle for anything for the rest of my career. Even if it would save time and money.
    - mulmen 6y ago
      The fact that you aren't comfortable discussing the details of how you were screwed by Oracle, even anonymously on the internet, is really all anyone needs to know about Oracle.
      - TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
        HN is one breach away from lost anonymity.
  - 6y ago

I don't think many people who want to use something stable like CentOS, but don't want to pay for a RHEL support contract would want to pay Oracle for RHEL-but-with-Oracle-sprinkles-on-top

kbenson 6y ago

Not to mention Oracle is not known to leave money on the table, and if they see they can start charging for Oracle Linux because there's no large well known free version, I wouldn't put it past them. Put another way, if you jump ship from CentOS because IBM caused Red Hat to change it into a funnel to pay them money, if you landed on Oracle, you might be setting yourself up to do it all over again fairly soon.

blaser-waffle 6y ago
> Not to mention Oracle is not known to leave money on the table You're underselling it: Oracle grab money in a way that I would describe as "aplomb ruthlessness". They've managed to fuck no less than 3 orgs I've worked for. If they ask you for a license count or how many cores are in use, ignore them. Larry Ellison doesn't need another boat.

_-david-_ 6y ago

Oracle Linux is free with optional paid support. "Unlike many other commercial Linux distributions, Oracle Linux is easy to download and completely free to use, distribute, and update. Oracle Linux is available under the GNU General Public License (GPLv2). Support contracts are available from Oracle. " https://www.oracle.com/a/ocom/docs/027617.pdf https://www.oracle.com/a/ocom/docs/027617.pdf [PDF]

davoneus 6y ago
never, Ever, EVER trust Oracle. Especially with something as important as an open source product. Evidence: Oracle's Sen. VP Glueck statement that "There is no math that can justify open source from a cost perspective." No chance you'll ever see me running OEL.
- apecat 6y ago
  Are there any license traps in Oracle Linux? Writing like this makes me very wary of putting Oracle Linux anywhere near my employer's systems https://www.computerworld.com/article/2992597/law-firm-warns-of-oracles-licensing-traps.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/2992597/law-firm-warns... https://blog.dbwatch.com/how-to-avoid-oracles-licensing-traps https://blog.dbwatch.com/how-to-avoid-oracles-licensing-trap... Then there's the famous lawn mover quote from Bryan Cantrill https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5170246 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5170246
  - TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
    Can you imagine if they had successfully purchased TikTok?
    - apecat 6y ago
      match made not in heaven but on Oracle Cloud
- TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
  > never, Ever, EVER trust Oracle. Been burned by them before. Not at liberty to give details, but the outcome is that I never choose Oracle for anything for the rest of my career. Even if it would save time and money.
  - mulmen 6y ago
    The fact that you aren't comfortable discussing the details of how you were screwed by Oracle, even anonymously on the internet, is really all anyone needs to know about Oracle.
    - TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
      HN is one breach away from lost anonymity.
- 6y ago