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Oracle's free software foray scorned

Tags:
Open Source,
Express Edition,
FOSS

Ingrid Marson ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 02 Nov 2005 15:00 GMT

Four major open source database projects have scoffed at Oracle’s attempt this week to tackle the threat of open source software.

On Tuesday, Oracle released a beta version of Oracle 10g Express Edition, a low-end edition of its database. The Express Edition is the same as other databases in Oracle’s lineup, but can only run servers with one processor, 4GB of disk memory and 1GB of memory.

Responding to the news of Oracle’s plans, open source database vendor MySQL said that users are not looking for a database with reduced capabilities. “Most users are looking for complete, full-featured database products like the new MySQL 5.0, not handicapped, trial versions,” said a MySQL spokesman.

Paul Beach, an administrator of the open source Firebird project, agreed that Oracle Express cannot be compared with the open source databases Firebird and PostgreSQL, which “offer full functionality from the low end to the enterprise.”

PostgreSQL developer Simon Riggs is concerned that Oracle’s statement — that its Express database is aimed at open source alternatives — may mislead people about the capabilities of open-source enterprise-ready databases, such as PostgreSQL.

“Claiming this is a reaction to open source databases is a subtle attempt to persuade people that that’s the space that all open source databases are good for,” said Riggs, who pointed to PostgreSQL’s upcoming product range.

“Don’t be fooled — PostgreSQL 8.1, due out in mid November, can handle hundreds of gigabytes easily and scales well to eight processors and beyond. There is clearly no comparison between the capabilities of Oracle XE and PostgreSQL — PostgreSQL dances easily around that,” he said.

Oracle told CNET News.com, ZDNet UK’s sister site, that it hopes that developers and students will choose the Express Edition over alternatives like MySQL or SQL Server Express. Users could then migrate over time to Oracle’s higher-end products.

“Even though the database is initially free, standards progress and those university students who are playing with the database today will eventually be working at corporations and making product decisions,” he said. “We want to have mind-share with those people,” said Andrew Mendelsohn, senior vice-president of Oracle’s server technologies division.

But Oracle does not appear to understand the benefits of free and open source software, according to Adrian Jones, the managing director of Sleepycat Europe, which makes the open source Berkeley DB.

“When it comes to the open source market, Oracle still doesn’t get it,” said Jones.

“Oracle is confusing free beer with free speech. There are many reasons why the open source database market is growing so healthily. Price is certainly one reason, but equally important is the fact that the open source vendors are progressively adding functionality to their products, improving product quality and building the community around them,” he said.

Oracle is not the only large technology company that has been accused of misunderstanding free and open source software (FOSS). Earlier this year, Jonathan Schwartz, the president of Sun, angered some in the free software community when he claimed that the most important feature about FOSS is the price.