[Gllug] Oracle on Linux

[Ian Northeast]

Tethys wrote:
> Nix writes:
> 
> 
>>`Oracle' and `grotesque memory hog' definitely go together. :)
> 
> 
> You forgot the terms "bug ridden" and "unsuitable for enterprise use".

To be fair the RDBMS itself isn't so bad. Memory is pretty cheap now 
after all. Once you get it installed correctly that is, the new(ish) 
Java installer is atrocious. The old curses one was far better. So what 
if it only worked on *nix? Who would want to run Oracle on Windows?[1] 
You also need a competent DBA (unless you are one). It's an even bigger 
pig if the database design is wrong.

Their other software is somewhere on a par with the installer or worse. 
I have spent many frustrating hours with iAS, which I wholeheartedly do 
not recommend. At least you only have to run the installer once per 
installation. You have to live with iAS until you can find someone else 
to offload it onto. And they still come back to bug you when they can't 
fix it.

One effect of the software being so bad is that their support staff (L2 
and above anyway) are actually quite good IME. They have all used the 
software, so they are familiar with all the problems it causes and can 
generally fix them pretty quickly. They never seem to give you the "our 
software is fine so it must be your setup" line. They *know* their 
software is crap.

[1] Actually I did once, long ago, before it was available for Linux, 
just for a play. Most amusing. Very nearly terminally destroyed an NT 
server. A mate came up with the solution - remove the disk with the 
database on, so Oracle startup can't get far enough to utterly bugger 
the machine up. Then you can log on and disable it. It worked:) I've not 
had anything like this with Oracle on Linux or any *nix. It's a bit too 
easy to destroy NT. Or not perhaps, depending on your POV wrt whether NT 
is better destroyed or not:)

Regards, Ian




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