Should Oracle's Linux strategy be...Ubuntu? - CNET News

Oracle has gone on a buying spree in the past few years, consolidating an impressive portfolio of market-leading technology. But there's one thing it still lacks, despite awkward efforts to fill the void: an operating system. Though Oracle has unsuccessfully courted Red Hat as an acquisition target for years, its affections might be better placed on Ubuntu.

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Yes, by acquiring Sun, Oracle is gaining Solaris, but as Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst indicated in the Red Hat earnings call on Wednesday, the exodus of Solaris-to-Linux users continues apace, as Sun's attempt to neutralize Linux's appeal with OpenSolaris have had zero effect on stopping the exodus. Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL), a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) clone, has failed to dent Red Hat's dominance , with Red Hat renewing all of its top 25 deals (again, and at 120 percent of renewal value) that were up for renewal, losing none to OEL. As such, RHEL's dominance remains a festering sore for Oracle's ambition to own a complete enterprise software stack. So long as Red Hat owns the foundation of that stack, it remains a real threat to Oracle.

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