|
http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9802484-16.html?part=rss&subj=TheOpenRoad
Oracle users go ga-ga
for open source, including MySQL
It's great to be king (aka "Oracle"), but apparently the peasants
are secretly in revolt. According to a survey of the
Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG) [PDF], open source adoption is
rampant within the rank-and-file of Oracle users...including widespread
adoption of MySQL.
Uptake is still small, but the cracks in the part iron, part clay feet
are starting to spread:
There was an increase in the number of organizations reporting that they
are running over half of their applications on open source software,
increasing from 9 percent in 2006 to 13 percent in the 2007 report. Currently, more
than one-third of the respondents report that they have deployed an open source
database in production, with nearly three-quarters of that group having MySQL installed. Interestingly, the availability of
"Express Edition" databases from Oracle, Microsoft and IBM has not
slowed the adoption of open source databases - at sites with an "Express
Edition" installed 56 percent also reported MySQL
installed and 22 percent reported PostgreSQL.
While open source is prevalent at many levels in the
enterprise, the study found its adoption does not run deeply, yet. Currently,
fewer than 10 percent of enterprise application portfolios are supported or
interact with open source systems. At the same time, 52 percent of all
organizations plan to increase their adoption of open source software in the
coming year, a pattern that is consistent across both large and small
organizations. Organizations are attracted by the low cost of open source
software with over two thirds reporting cost savings as the top reason for open
source implementations, up from 57 percent in last year's open source study. [Emphasis mine.]
Of course such lame Express Editions can't stop MySQL,
PostgreSQL, and other open-source databases. Why?
Because they only tackle one (albeit a prominent) factor in open-source
database adoption: cost. I've written about this before:
My
prediction [on Oracle's Express Edition]?
This move will be completely forgotten. Few to nobody will use it. And, 6-12
months from now, Oracle will have to give a real response to the open source
threat it faces. Tossing a lightweight database in front of a fast-moving
market that wants free, open, and killer databases just won't fly.
Crippled software is not the answer to open source. Open source is.
Until Oracle, IBM, and other proprietary database vendors figure this out,
they'll continue to encourage fissures in the foundations of their revenue
models. It will take time, but open source is clearly a threat.
Back to
Ari Kaplan's Home Page