Surprisingly, it was discussion about Oracle/SUN and my postscript about Business Objects that raised most comments in my post Microsoft to acquire SAP? – in particular, what will happen to the many software products that Oracle acquires with SUN?
Top of the list of products at risk must be the MySQL database. Personally I can’t see Oracle putting much investment in here – however, fortunately, there is a complete community of developers out there that will, I suspect, ensure that the product is not killed off entirely.
Top of the list of products to survive must be Java – Oracle remains a big supporter of Java and I believe we will see continued development and support and, despite rumours to the contrary, I believe that Oracle will continue to keep Java entirely free.
What about SUN’s operating system Solaris? – Oracle has always run best on Solaris, but with Linux seeming to have greater volume and presence in the market, I can see that Oracle will find a way to retire Solaris as the year’s pass by....
Then there’s OpenOffice.org - Larry has always been anti-Microsoft and looking for a product to attack the mighty MS – so perhaps this is a weapon in the great Oracle-vs-Microsoft war. But does OpenOffice really fit into Oracle’s toolbox? – particularly for the types of corporate customers Oracle aims at? I think OpenOffice could be at risk but – like MySQL – I believe that its long term future will be secured by the existing user community, and that it’s not in Oracle’s interest to kill off the products, but to limit its exposure to ongoing costs. No, I don’t see Star Office re-appearing as an Oracle product....
P.S. Every comment I received agreed that Microsoft would aim to take over SAP, although several felt that the timing would not be until next year....
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