Re: [pgsql-advocacy] Oracle buys Innobase

Joshua D. Drake wrote:

> Bruce Momjian wrote:
>
>> Matthew Terenzio wrote:
>>
>>
>>> As much as I respect Marc and Postgresql.org, I can't see Oracle
>>> hiring him away as a "killer" threat to the community. People would
>>> set up camp somewhere else, like Command Prompt. It would hurt
>>> things for a while but the software is too important to too many to
>>> be killed by a domain name or person.
>>>
>>
>>
>> Right, all these damages are temporary, which is probably why we haven't
>> been attacked yet.
>>
>>
>>
>>
> There are also logistical problems with attacking PostgreSQL because
> nobody owns it.
> MySQL was an easy target because of the way they negotiated their
> business contracts
> for use of Innodb.
>
> PostgreSQL doesn't suffer from that. Our only real, substantiated
> concern that I can see
> is the potential for the Software Patent crap.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Joshua D. Drake
>
But what if they came in sideways and bought Command Prompt? (As an
example.) You could do a lot more to destroy PostgreSQL's market in the
business world by destroying the various support mechanisms. Your
business is much closer to eating their lunch than PostgreSQL itself.
So what if they bought Command Prompt (or someone else like it) and then
cut it off at the knees? No one ever accused Larry Ellison of being
dumb ... different strategies for different opponents.

Jeff