[ale] Losing PHP Jobs in Atlanta? Growing ASP.NET?

[Jonathan Rickman]

> A quote from the article "Case said he was surprised by how 
> well the system worked, but Linux became an issue when 
> Combe's Web applications needed a database, and the only 
> option available to the company was one from Oracle Corp."
> 
> I wonder who ran their IT dept., MySQL and PostGreSQL are two 
> that comes to mind. :)

You're kidding right? Let's look at the whole quote...

------------------------------------------------------
Personal care products maker Combe Inc., of White Plains, N.Y., developed
and administered its Web sites with an ISP running a Linux-Oracle platform
about nine years ago and started the switch back to Windows two years ago.

"We will not be looking at Linux in the near future," said Combe CIO Tim
Case. "Even though [Linux] has moved into the realm of a production-level
system and may become a competitor to Microsoft, that is just not the case
where global support and robust development are required."

Combe was initially wary about its sites running on Linux, but it moved to
offset that risk by making sure its provider contract had built-in
service-level agreements. Case said he was surprised by how well the system
worked, but Linux became an issue when Combe's Web applications needed a
database, and the only option available to the company was one from Oracle
Corp.
-------------------------------------------------------

Nine years ago you would have been branded a fool for even suggesting that
MySQL or PostgreSQL were even in the same category with Oracle. Even today,
I would consider it naive to put MySQL in the same category. PostgreSQL is
close to Oracle now on mid size systems but still isn't quite there when the
database exceeds 2TB. Of course, once you factor in commercial support costs
for PostgreSQL you're right back in Oracle land in terms of pricing. Oracle
provides support at a level that nobody comes close to...with the possible
exception of Sun (IMHO). So even with the advancement of PostgreSQL
technically and the slight cost savings, it is still not a slam dunk
decision. 

The fact that someone chooses something other than OSS for a business need
does automatically not make them stupid, despite what the OSS zealot
handbook says. 

--
Jonathan "reality check" Rickman