I just saw an Oracle banner ad on Slashdot that read: "Looking for the #1 database on Linux?" Curious, I clicked on it. After several redirects, it took me to this page.
Just for the record, it says, among other things:
Oracle9i Database on Linux is a fast, reliable and cost-effective way to grow your business without growing your budget.
Nowhere on that page do they provide justification for their claim that Oracle9i is the "#1 database on Linux." You know why? Because it's not. Not by a long shot. You see, Oracle is expensive. Most Linux users are quite happy with PostgreSQL or MySQL.
"Ah," you say, "they're marketing to the corporate world." Maybe. But on Slashdot?!?! I can think of about 50 other sites that they ought advertise on first.
Oh, and if Oracle is so good, why has Slashdot's parent company decided to use IBM's DB2 as the back-end for their only product?
That page also says...
Voted Linux Journal Editors' Choice for "sheer performance", Oracle9i Database on Linux is Unbreakable.
What the hell to Linux Journal's editors know about databases? Are any of them DBAs? What sort of applications have they been building with Oracle?
Oh, well. Back to my real writing.
Update: Google speaks the truth. When you search Google for "The #1 Database on Linux" the first link you get is for MySQL. Oracle is #3 on the list. Heh. Nice try Mr. Ellison. (For some reason Linux Journal is #4 in the results. Must have a lot more to do with "linux" than "database".
I really wish I could write English text at even half the speed that I code at. In the last two hours, I've written about two pages of text. Ugh.
I should have told everyone that the book would be done in 2005 so I'd have a chance of getting it done early.