[Novalug] RHN Satellite

[jecottrell3 at comcast.net]

Thanks for clearing that up. Very useful info.

I never got a chance to use RHN SS because it was rather pricey.

If the embedded DB is without cost, that helps...but it is still Oracle, and that is distasteful.

I am not entirely sure of the status of MySQL at this point, but I would guess that it has been 'virally infected' by enough GPL code that an attempt to close the source it would fail.

In any case, I can't see them restricting existing versions, which have already been 'given away'.

As for "owning" a database...what about "The Red Hat Database"?

http://www.redhat.com/whitepapers/products/db/0205_Database_Whitepaper.pdf

Regardless of who owns what...Oracle is Proprietary...and it's a slap in the face to those of us trying to avoid Proprietary Products.

It's also Poor Software Design. Standard SQL should suffice for normal operation, and generic script or commands should delegate generic operations such as Start, Start, Backup, Clone, etc to DB Specific Plugins.

By hopping on the Oracle Train exclusively, they have sent a message that Open Source just isn't good enough to compete with Commercial Products. Not exactly in line with Core Company Principles.

JIM

----- Original Message -----
From: "greg pryzby" <greg at pryzby.org>
To: jecottrell3 at comcast.net
Cc: novalug at calypso.tux.org
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 1:53:59 PM
Subject: Re: [Novalug] RHN Satellite

SPEAKING FOR ME, not my employer.

On Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 1:15 PM,  <jecottrell3 at comcast.net> wrote:
> I just learned recently that it uses Oracle as its back end. WTF???


Where have you been? This has been true from the start, back in
2000/2001 when Satellite was released. Nothing has changed.


> Is Red Hat unwilling to eat its own dog food, and use Open Source DBs like MySQL and Postgres?


Eating one's own dog food (or drinking one's champagne) is when the
company maintains the product. RH does NOT own or maintain any
database. I will also argue that MySQL is no better than Oracle at
this point since Oracle owns them and has changed their go to market
on open products in the past.

So RH would have to create a new database or start supporting a
database to 'eat its own dog food'.

Or that is my understanding.


> I would think that they would also have a distaste in their mouth from being threatened to be bought as well.
>
> Yeah, you have to Support them on your platform, but you don't have to make them a Partner on their own products, and you don't have to force them down your customer's throats. The Satellite server is already expensive enough without requiring an Oracle license.


Satellite includes a copy of Oracle. There is no extra change to use Oracle.

You MAY opt to use an external Oracle database, and you would need to
have a license from Oracle to do that. However, what is shipped works
and includes all the bits for 1 price.


> Will the Satellite server work with any other DB?


Today, no. (See next comment).


> I hear that Spacewalk can support Postgres, but can it also support RedHat systems and hook into the RHN?

Spacewalk was started for a number of reasons, including the hope that
it would support another database. I do not know the status of
spacewalk and PostgreSQL.

If you have a RHN account, you can get the bits to load into Spacewalk
to manage your systems. The solution isn't supported by RH (duh), but
works for some people.


> JIM
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> Novalug at calypso.tux.org
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