Installing Oracle using the universal Installer

Manual Oracle Install using a shell script

Oracle on Linux

Why Oracle and Linux

Oracle is the premier database system in use today. Since its inception in 1977 it has become the most used database amongst the Fortune 500. This has propelled Oracle to one of the biggest companies in the world. Oracle is not cheap and those companies are not dumb so there must be other reasons why these companies are choosing it rather than the normal competitors like Sybase, DB2 or Informix.

When Oracle stated that they would support their product on Linux it was confirmation of a fact some of us have known for some time, that Linux is a stable platform and suitable for use in an enterprise environement. However, Linux enthusiasts knowing it and Oracle putting its money where its mouth is and saying it are two very different things. This coupled with the fact that Linux can be deployed on relatively cheap hardware means that money conscious companies are finding Oracle on Linux extremely hard to ignore.

With Oracle now advertising Unbreakable Linux (2002) its use on Linux is starting to increase considerably. We are seeing Linux in the server room more and more often which means it's no longer being relegated to the underside of the system administrator's desk. Some of you may be wondering what I am talking about and have been using Linux in a production capacity for some time but for the majority of companies this was simply not the case, although things seem to be changing.

Even Oracle, in an effort to reduce costs and increase Return On Investment (ROI) are moving key parts of their own business onto Linux, most of their outsourcing business now use Linux. Another interesting fact is that Oracle adopted Apache as its Application Server in place of its own so any skills in Apache are automatically transferrable.

In short Linux is becoming the operating system of choice among money conscious companies' and is being used to power critical systems in all ares of business. Linux is maturing and as the kernel gets some of the features found in the main *nix's people will start to see that Linux is not *nix's little brother. With that in mind we can expect to see Oracle on Linux on a regular basis and any knowledge of either puts us in a good position for those jobs we sometimes dream about.