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Every time I hear a story like this - "management says 'no'" - I wonder if anyone cared/dared to ask follow up questions. Why was PostgreSQL not an option acco

Every time I hear a story like this - "management says 'no'" - I wonder if anyone cared/dared to ask follow up questions. Why was PostgreSQL not an option according to management? I would not take their dismissal at face value. I'd want to know why not. But that might be Dutch culture.

surfingdino 2y ago
Insurance. The piece of paper that states who the buck stops with when there's a claim or lawsuit.
- DandyDev 2y ago
  Let's say that is the reason, then that seems a very valid reason, right? Accountability is important, especially in large organizations. I guess what ticks me off a bit is the trope of dissing on management for saying 'no' but leaving out all the relevant context that might show management to be right. Don't get me wrong, I've seen my own fair share of bad management. But it's not so black and white when it comes to grand sweeping decisions like "should we invest in PostgreSQL or keep paying Oracle big license fees?"
  - vanviegen 2y ago
    > Accountability is important, especially in large organizations. Why? So we'll have someone to blame when things inevitably go wrong? In my experience, the people who like to say the buck stops with them are nowhere to be found when that happens. I much prefer organizations focussed on actually getting things right, instead of worrying about who takes the blame.
    - hubertdinsk 2y ago
      I'd say it's also to stop people from doing dumb things (i.e. proactive defense). Say, if the org runs Postgres in-house, there's a mighty chance that an intern somewhere might decide to ...test things out in a creative way. Perhaps the idea of outsourcing that to Oracle is that Oracle has the processes/controls to rein in such interns. As opposed to e.g. a hospital having to create such processes/controls. (Oracle is still a bad idea IMHO, just slightly less so comparatively)
    - disgruntledphd2 2y ago
      I once had a few drinks with an Oracle salesperson many moons ago, and he did a pretty good job of convincing me that they sold risk minimisation over personnel changes to my uber boss, which honestly makes more and more sense to me as I continue in my career.
- mjw1007 2y ago
  I disbelieve that starting a lawsuit against Oracle because their software didn't work as it was supposed to would ever end well. Do you know of any examples of that happening?
  - bryan_w 2y ago
    Crowdstrike.
shnock 2y ago
Same, but not necessarily due to nationality. It very much depends on the company culture and interpersonal relationship in question

surfingdino 2y ago

Insurance. The piece of paper that states who the buck stops with when there's a claim or lawsuit.

DandyDev 2y ago
Let's say that is the reason, then that seems a very valid reason, right? Accountability is important, especially in large organizations. I guess what ticks me off a bit is the trope of dissing on management for saying 'no' but leaving out all the relevant context that might show management to be right. Don't get me wrong, I've seen my own fair share of bad management. But it's not so black and white when it comes to grand sweeping decisions like "should we invest in PostgreSQL or keep paying Oracle big license fees?"
- vanviegen 2y ago
  > Accountability is important, especially in large organizations. Why? So we'll have someone to blame when things inevitably go wrong? In my experience, the people who like to say the buck stops with them are nowhere to be found when that happens. I much prefer organizations focussed on actually getting things right, instead of worrying about who takes the blame.
  - hubertdinsk 2y ago
    I'd say it's also to stop people from doing dumb things (i.e. proactive defense). Say, if the org runs Postgres in-house, there's a mighty chance that an intern somewhere might decide to ...test things out in a creative way. Perhaps the idea of outsourcing that to Oracle is that Oracle has the processes/controls to rein in such interns. As opposed to e.g. a hospital having to create such processes/controls. (Oracle is still a bad idea IMHO, just slightly less so comparatively)
  - disgruntledphd2 2y ago
    I once had a few drinks with an Oracle salesperson many moons ago, and he did a pretty good job of convincing me that they sold risk minimisation over personnel changes to my uber boss, which honestly makes more and more sense to me as I continue in my career.
mjw1007 2y ago
I disbelieve that starting a lawsuit against Oracle because their software didn't work as it was supposed to would ever end well. Do you know of any examples of that happening?
- bryan_w 2y ago
  Crowdstrike.

shnock 2y ago

Same, but not necessarily due to nationality. It very much depends on the company culture and interpersonal relationship in question