Practical Technology

Oracle’s Unbreakable Linux is something of an odd-duck in Linux distribution circles. While Oracle, the database giant, produces it, under the Oracle paint job it’s all RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux). In addition, while Oracle stands behind its distribution with support, Oracle doesn’t think of itself as being in the Linux distribution business.
What does it [...]

On the eve of Ubuntu Linux’s version 6.10 release, Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu and its commercial wing, Canonical Ltd., held an early morning meeting in London to talk about Ubuntu, Canonical, and their business future.
Despite the almost endless rumors about an Oracle deal in the works to either buy or partner with Ubuntu, [...]

Oracle’s Unbreakable Linux move caught the Linux community by surprise, but, for the most part, they’re seeing a silver lining to Oracle’s latest shocker. Red Hat, for example, made the best of the news that Oracle will take Red Hat Linux and support it at cut-rates.
“The opportunity for open source just got bigger,” said spokesperson [...]

Oracle Corp. on Oct. 25 announced that it would provide the same enterprise class support for Linux as it provides for its database, middleware, and applications products. Essentially, this means that Oracle, after removing Red Hat trademarks, will be distributing Oracle Unbreakable Linux, derived from Red Hat’s open-source Linux technology.
Oracle, however, claims that it is [...]

Repeat after me: “There is no Oracle Linux.” I don’t care how many times you hear stock analysts say that Oracle is about to launch its own Linux. It’s just not going to happen.
The latest example of wishful thinking comes from Jefferies & Co. analyst Katherine Egbert, who wrote on October 13, “Our independent checks [...]