[NTLUG:Discuss] database(s) on Linux

[Paul Ingendorf]

Quoting iostream at attbi.com:

> 
> <snip>
> > > If Oracle, Sybase, or Informix had a reasonable price tag OSS
> products 
> > > like MySQL and PostgresSQL wouldn't have a following.
> > 
> > No argument from me.
> > 
> > Ry
> 
> That is not entirely true.  The feature set of Oracle is required for
> many things, and corporations will gladly spend the money on such
> features.  I doubt you will see many people trying to run a multi TB
> data warehouse with any OSS tool, or a CRM datamart, etc.  Many
> companies use these expensive database systems to do mission critical
> work.  The databases save more than enough in operational costs, or
> create enough extra revenue to easily justify the pricetag.  Lets face
> it, if you are buying million dollar + servers, Oracle licensing fees
> are not going to bankrupt you.
> 
> Justin
> 

I have to ask, do you work for Oracle Justin?  At the current price of Oracle 
because it is so expensive it is beneficial and truly cost effective to maybe 
10,000 businesses.  So at its cost you would consider it a bargain for those 
companies.  What about the other 2.5 million companies in the United States 
alone that are out there?  This is exactly what Greg was addressing by 
contending that if the prices were reasonable for Oracle, Sybase or even 
Informix the various open source solutions would not have the following they 
have today.  How exactly is this not entirely true?

Also don't think that the licensing fees are the only costs involved in working 
with these dbs.  Their complexity leads to expensive DBAs to manage, more 
expensive people to develop in them, per processor fees for bug fixes disguised 
as upgrades.  All of these lead up to price tags for total cost of ownership 
that choke companies like Blockbuster and GM yearly.  How is some small to mid 
sized business supposed to handle a nut as large as $800k to get a custom order 
management system with a web interface just so they can integrate store sales 
and internet sales?

I don't mean for this to be so inflammatory Justin but really you just attacked 
a perfectly good point while you yourself were walking on water with your own 
ethnocentric viewpoint totally ignoring the fact that the majority of companies 
cannot afford oracle or the hidden costs that come along with it.