‹ BackHN Continuity

Thread

Oracle cites 'force majeure' to shield itself on controversial data center

155 points · 153 comments · simonpure

  1. giancarlostoro · · focus · HN ↗
    I really don't get who keeps using Oracle outside of Java, and how they make their money, must be some legacy contracts or something, but Oracle has always been customer hostile, from all the things I've heard, they sound like a ransomware company (idk if they still do it, but they'd sell you the database, then "audit you" and if you used anything that wasn't in compliance, fine you, until you converted that to Oracle DB too or whatever wild stuff). I just don't get it. I get even less how its execs are okay running what could be a much more successful company so poorly. You can change Oracle for the better and become even more profitable if you change how you do business.

    Take Java as a solid example, they removed JavaFX from the core of Java, which made everyone think JavaFX was dead, recently they started providing enterprise support for JavaFX, which signals its production ready, but, who wants to trust Oracle? I sure don't. I can use C# for free without any of that baggage, and if I get all sorts of stable options for a GUI, and with Avalonia (and Uno?) I can run my GUI on any OS.

    1. pwg · · focus · HN ↗
      > I really don't get who keeps using Oracle

      "Enterprise" is still very much in the camp of "using Oracle". Which is likely how they survive despite being so customer unfriendly. "Enterprise" users are simply using what "the enterprise" purchased and have little choice in the matter.

      1. zahlman · · focus · HN ↗
        Is there a list somewhere of major "enterprises" in this position? I've always kinda wondered how Java keeps its edge over C# in the TIOBE rankings.
        1. Sindisil · · focus · HN ↗
          TIOBE rankings are meaningless.
          1. zahlman · · focus · HN ↗
            What do you suggest instead, then?
            1. giancarlostoro · · focus · HN ↗
              What a coworker did when he was starting college back some decades, he asked where all the COBOL jobs were, the teacher got very angry, so he dropped out and went to a different university, where they were teaching Delphi / VB which definitely had a better job market. So you might never have a "perfect" number, but at least locally, you can kind of figure out what local employers are hiring for, which is usually what you'd care most about anyway. I think we've reached a point where unless you're doing something specialized, for the most part programming language choice is about developer familiarity these days.
Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.