Hats Off to Larry
Welcome
We all loved it when Microsoft finally embraced Linux after a history of attacking it. Some of those outrageous sound bites like “Linux is a cancer…” got played back in triumphant retrospective as we all marked the passing of an era and remarked on the how far we’d come.
Dear Reader,
We all loved it when Microsoft finally embraced Linux after a history of attacking it. Some of those outrageous sound bites like "Linux is a cancer…" got played back in triumphant retrospective as we all marked the passing of an era and remarked on the how far we'd come.
Should we be doing the same thing now with Oracle and the cloud? Oracle founder Larry Ellison made headlines back in 2008 with some very theatrical denunciations of the cloud industry. Ellison called the cloud "nonsense," and once said of the cloud phenomenon, "Maybe I'm an idiot, but I have no idea what anyone is talking about. What is it? It's complete gibberish. It's insane. When is this idiocy going to stop?" [1]
Part of his argument was that much of what was getting called "cloud computing" was just a newfangled name for what used to be called networking or web services – a fair point at the time. But his vociferous refusal to acknowledge that anything was actually happening that resembled a new market or a paradigm shift seemed wildly controversial at a time when other companies were all rushing to reinvent and reorient. Many experts said that Ellison was just denouncing the cloud because his company was so far behind that it had no reasonable way to compete with cloud vendors other than to shame or frighten potential users away from using cloud services. (Actually, the same could be said about Microsoft's attitude toward Linux.)
Fast forward to March of this year, and we discover that Oracle's Q3 2018 report shows cloud revenues are up 32% to US$1.6 billion. The press release includes a proud quote from Ellison, "The Oracle autonomous database is now fully available in the Oracle Cloud. And there are more autonomous cloud services to come. During this calendar year, we expect to deliver Autonomous Analytics, Autonomous Mobility, Autonomous Application Development, and Autonomous Integration services. Oracle's new suite of Autonomous PaaS services delivers an unprecedented level of automation and cost savings to our customers."
My they have come a long way! Or have they? At the time of Ellison's anti-cloud tirade back in 2008, Oracle was already working on its cloud portfolio, and they have labored systematically since then to transform their business around cloud services (just like everyone else is doing). If you were an observer from another planet, watching the behavior of Oracle the way Jane Goodall watched the behavior of wild chimpanzees, you would never have guessed that these people who were artfully executing this methodical entry into the enterprise cloud market worked for a company that regarded cloud computing as "complete gibberish."
What is my point then? Oh, just a lament about this business I'm in, where you can interview these guys and they emphatically tell you one thing – with all the sincerity and bravado of a tenor in the opera – but all the while they are out there doing something different. Every tweet, every speech, every photo moment, is all about strategy, and strategy never stays long in the house of truth.
But I already knew that – and I guess you probably did to. Hats off to you, Larry. Sounds like things are on course, and your ship is sailing for another sunrise. So I guess maybe you DID understand the cloud after all.
Joe Casad, Editor in Chief
Infos
- "Larry Ellison: Someone Explain to Me This Cloud Computing Thing": http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/9/larry-ellison-someone-explain-to-me-this-cloud-computing-thing-my-company-is-committing-to-orcl-
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Endless OS 6 has Arrived
After more than a year since the last update, the latest release of Endless OS is now available for general usage.
-
Fedora Asahi 40 Remix Available for Macs with Apple Silicon
If you've been anticipating KDE's Plasma 6 for your Apple Silicon-powered Mac, then you're in luck.
-
Red Hat Adds New Deployment Option for Enterprise Linux Platforms
Red Hat has re-imagined enterprise Linux for an AI future with Image Mode.
-
OSJH and LPI Release 2024 Open Source Pros Job Survey Results
See what open source professionals look for in a new role.
-
Proton 9.0-1 Released to Improve Gaming with Steam
The latest release of Proton 9 adds several improvements and fixes an issue that has been problematic for Linux users.
-
So Long Neofetch and Thanks for the Info
Today is a day that every Linux user who enjoys bragging about their system(s) will mourn, as Neofetch has come to an end.
-
Ubuntu 24.04 Comes with a “Flaw"
If you're thinking you might want to upgrade from your current Ubuntu release to the latest, there's something you might want to consider before doing so.
-
Canonical Releases Ubuntu 24.04
After a brief pause because of the XZ vulnerability, Ubuntu 24.04 is now available for install.
-
Linux Servers Targeted by Akira Ransomware
A group of bad actors who have already extorted $42 million have their sights set on the Linux platform.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.