Linux not yet critical mass, database vendors say
By Paul Krill
InfoWorld Electric
Posted at 7:46 AM PT, Jul 6, 1998
Despite having an estimated 7 million devotees, the Linux freeware operating system is causing only a minor blip on the radar screens of major database companies, which profess no plans to port their products to the platform.
Oracle acknowledges experimenting with Linux in its labs. But that does not mean there are any intentions to release a commercial product, a representative said.
"Right now, we're not seeing a big demand from our customers that we support it," an Oracle representative said.
The company does have developers testing Linux in case the product ever reaches what Oracle considers the critical market mass needed for commercial support.
IBM, Informix, and Sybase also have no intentions of releasing versions of their databases on Linux, company representatives said.
"We're driven by demand for popular platforms, and we have not heard the kind of demand for a particular one that would support the development effort," said Jeff Jones, program manager for data management marketing at IBM, in San Jose, Calif.
Hence, SCO UnixWare soon will get a port of IBM's DB2 Universal Database, but Linux will not.
The lack of support from major vendors does not discourage Linux Online, a forum at http://www.linux.org that promotes Linux.
"That they don't have plans now is not discouraging," said Michael McLagan, a spokesman for Linux Online, and general manager at Innovative Logic, a consulting company in Laurel, Md. "That they know what we are and that we exist, and that they haven't firmly closed [the door] is a positive point."
Linux Online estimates there are 7 million users of Linux. The platform is gaining momentum, McLagan said. Corel Computer's NetWinder, for example, is a network computer that supports Linux, he noted.
Oracle Corp., in Redwood Shores, Calif., is at http://www.oracle.com. IBM Corp., in Armonk, N.Y., is at http://www.ibm.com. Informix Software Corp., in Menlo Park, Calif., is at http://www.informix.com. Sybase Inc., in Emeryville, Calif., is at http://www.sybase.com. Corel Computer Corp., in Ottawa, is at http://www.corel.com.
Paul Krill is a senior editor at InfoWorld.
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