Oracle Buys Sun. Linux Gets a Boost.

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As you probably have heard, Oracle bought Sun for $7.4 billion today. I'm no Larry Ellison fan, because frankly, I think he's a few cards short of a full deck but I think in the long run, this is good for Sun. Not all of Sun but a lot of it.

And Linux will get a boost out of it as the operating system of choice.

My Sun Predictions/Hopes:

1. MySQL and InnoDB Reunite - Ah, it's good to have these two back together again. Oracle bought InnoDB in 2005--much to my surprise and disappointment--but now with Oracle's purchase of Sun--they're home again. A good pair--trust me.

2. Java - Oracle can do a lot with Java. With JDBC, a Java application server like tomcat and Java Server Pages (jsp); Java is an excellent choice for enterprise-level applications with an Oracle or MySQL backend.

3. Solaris - Sorry Solaris, unless someone takes you off of Oracle's hands, you're dead meat.

4. Sparc Hardware Architecture - Again, sorry. Fossil. History. Gone.

5. Customers - OK, this is where it gets sticky. A lot of big companies use Sun's Solaris operating system and Sparc computers in their infrastructure. I believe Oracle will migrate these customers to their Unbreakable Linux distribution on commodity hardware.

6. Staff - There are some great people at Sun and they would fit nicely into Oracle. I hope Oracle is smart enough to keep them but unfortunately, I see the big brains starting their own high-tech companies and shunning both Sun and Oracle in their new incarnations.

So, what is Oracle really buying for $7.4 billion if all Sun really has to offer is MySQL (Purchased by Sun for $1 billion), Java and a few good people? Ummm, yeah--you figured it out--all the above plus the customer base. A lot, but not all, of Sun's customers are also Oracle's customers.

But.

What if Oracle could create it's own hybrid operating system using the best bits of Solaris and Linux and integrating database technology into the operating system itself? Now you have something.
Combine the industry's best database products with the industry's best operating systems--using Java as a middle layer and what do you get?

A new kind of cloud.

Stable. Unbreakable. Solid. Secure. Recoverable. Scalable.

An Oracle Cloud.

Oh yeah, they should pay me for that one. Hey Larry, I'll take back most of what I said if you let me work on it. I'll need to have a contract, parachute, etc. but I'm negotiable.

What do you think Oracle is buying for $7.4 billion? Let me know what you think.

Dani AI

Generated

This thread captures the range of reactions to the acquisition, from the strategic ideas floated by to the platform- and customer-focused points raised by and the caution voiced by . The following is a concise, practical checklist and technical perspective intended to move discussion away from speculation and toward measurable preparation.

Start with an operational inventory and risk matrix: catalogue hardware classes, OS releases, middleware stacks, database engines, and any proprietary features in use. Cross-reference that inventory with support contracts and SLAs to identify short- and medium-term obligations. Prioritize systems by business impact so limited testing effort buys maximum risk reduction.

Database and data-layer actions should be non-disruptive and test-driven. Ensure point-in-time backups and a secondary replication target to validate alternatives in parallel. Perform schema compatibility checks, run representative queries against candidate engines, and measure end-to-end latency on realistic workloads before committing to migration. Maintain a rollback plan and keep a stable copy of the production environment for repeatable tests.

Platform and middleware options hinge on reducing lock-in. Containerization or well-scoped virtualization can decouple apps from specific kernels or CPU architectures. Favor portable APIs and build pipelines that produce artifacts runnable on commodity Linux. For workloads currently on high-end RISC/Unix boxes, include equivalence testing (I/O, threading, memory footprint) in the benchmark suite before any large-scale migration.

Bottom line: plan and test, not panic. The acquisition will reshape vendor roadmaps and product overlap, but evidence-based migration plans, clear contract reviews, and parallel testing preserve service continuity. Credit to for the integrated-stack thinking, to for pointing out high-end customer implications, and to for the reminder to scrutinize the business side of the change.

Member Avatar for mbaocha
mbaocha 0 Newbie Poster

I do not support Sun decision. 7.4 billion isnt good enough. I beleive sun had a great feature of taking over the software industry. And just yestaday, that hope was chattered...

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rackserverdeals 0 Newbie Poster

1. MySQL/InnoDB. A lot of people aren't happy with Oracle owning InnoDB and have been working on replacements. Good news for PostgreSQL.

2. Oracle is already doing a lot with Java. They have Oracle Application Server and they bought BEA so they have Weblogic. Both J2EE app servers. Most of their middleware is Java based as well.

3. One of the main reasons for buying Sun given by Larry Ellison was Solaris. Solaris/SPARC is the most popular choice for deploying Oracle and Ellison said Solaris was the most advanced Unix technology out there. There's a reason that Solaris/Oracle is such a popular choice.

4. SPARC. SPARC hardware accounts for almost $1 billion dollars in hardware billings per quarter for Sun, compared to less than $200 million for their x64 hardware. Almost another billion in Hardware/OS support per quarter, mostly for SPARC servers. Sun's SPARC CMT server business is growing. The line is also higher margin and more profitable than x86.

5. Customers. Oracle has been trying to migrate their customers onto Linux for years now. They weren't going. Now Oracle will own Solaris/SPARC so it benefits them to keep them on that platform.

6. Oracle didn't buy Sun for it's IP. They'll need a lot of those staff to support and enhance the products. Support staff, legal, HR, and other non technology related employees should worry. As well as some products Oracle might not continue. Sun has a lot of projects, hard to say which ones, and there will likely be a lot of consolidation where Sun's products and Oracle's overlap. Dev tools, app servers, identity management, other middleware.

Sorry, but you really don't know what you're talking about. It's just wishful thinking.

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