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back to article IBM picks open-source in Oracle database fight

IBM is licensing technology from an open-source database company it's invested in, hoping to convince Oracle customers they should switch to its next DB2. The giant has licensed capabilities in five-year-old EnterpriseDB's Postgres Plus Advanced Server, which EnterpriseDB claims will cut by 90 per cent the cost of moving off …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
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    EnterpriseDB and *cough* Open Source

    EnterpriseDB is not, never has been, and likely never will be Open Source.

    Yes, the core is open source, but the parts that make EnterpriseDB != Postgres are all closed source.

    Strangely enough, the marketing folks at EnterpriseDB always forget to mention this. They do make sure to say "Open Source" at least three times in every press release, tho'

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  2. Ian Michael Gumby
    Unhappy

    @AC

    Isn't this true of even MySQL? You have to have an engine like InnoDB which is owned by Oracle and its not Open Sourced.

    What is interesting is that the story is all about DB2 and doesn't mention IBM's other engine, Informix's IDS.

    I guess IBM isn't doing the "freebies' to an engine which is driving their 'double digit growth' unlike their DB2...

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  3. Anonymous Coward
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    Ingres and Postgres are the only real Open Source databases out there

    MySQL will likely wither and die under Oracle's control.

    EnterpriseDB is a costly proprietry bolt-on to Postgres and isn't OpenSource.

    Ingres and Postgres are the only real Open Source databases out there.

    Ingres is way ahead of Postgres in terms of commercial users and product development.

    Postgres currently has more advanced features than Ingres, but Ingres is catching up and performs much better than Postgres.

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  4. Michael Fremlins
    Unhappy

    What Postgres needs...

    is a dead simple to set up replication system, like MySQL.

    All the available options for Postgres replication are ugly or cumbersome, for whatever reasons.

    It's the reason why we've used MySQL for the last few years and not Postgres. The only reason.

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Another open source data warehouse death ?

    this may affect open source based data warehouse appliance firms such as GreenPlum as data mining capabilities are moved into DB2. ( I know, I know, some capabilities already there)

    Given the energy efficiency of Zos hardware, IBM may have a good financial argument here.

    Looks as if all IT is becoming a commodity, except Zos and Windows.

    All the fun is going.

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  6. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    @Ian Michael Gumby

    InnoDB is open source; it's released under the GPL.

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  7. Neil C Smith

    @ IMG - InnoDB is GPL

    Unless I'm missing something, InnoDB is open-sourced under GPL. Yes, there are commercial licensing opportunities same as MySQL itself.

    Of course, what happens now it's all under one roof is anyone's guess! :-)

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  8. A J Stiles
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    Postgres is poisoned

    Postgres is poisoned, as it is released under a BSD licence. This licence, dating as it does from an earlier time, does not oblige vendors to make their modified versions Open Source. Thus, IBM (or anyone) could alter Postgres subtly but incompatibly, cage up the Source Code and lock you in.

    It's not called the "Bait, Switch, Destroy" licence for nothing.

    At least the MySQL codebase is under the GPL, so it could always be taken over by someone else if Oracle seem to be neglecting their duties.

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  9. Matt Bryant Silver badge
    Happy

    All fun and games!

    These type of acquisitions always seem to kick off some interesting developments as the vendors manouvere to try and get some advantage or settle old scores, some of which actually benefits users! Nothing like a little competition in a tight market to make the big guys start innovating and offering some good deals again.

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  10. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    Re: Postgres is poisoned

    Agreed on the observations about the non-copyleft properties of the PostgreSQL licence. One really ought to stick with the genuinely open source releases to avoid lock-in.

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