Oracle Advocates Keeping Linux Open and Free, Calls Out IBM

[T0@st]

Oracle has been part of the Linux community for 25 years. Our goal has remained the same over all those years: help make Linux the best server operating system for everyone, freely available to all, with high-quality, low-cost support provided to those who need it. Our Linux engineering team makes significant contributions to the kernel, file systems, and tools. We push all that work back to mainline so that every Linux distribution can include it. We are proud those contributions are part of the reason Linux is now so very capable, benefiting not just Oracle customers, but all users.

In 2006, we launched what is now called Oracle Linux, a RHEL compatible distribution and support offering that is used widely, and powers Oracle's engineered systems and our cloud infrastructure. We chose to be RHEL compatible because we did not want to fragment the Linux community. Our effort to remain compatible has been enormously successful. In all the years since launch, we have had almost no compatibility bugs filed. Customers and ISVs can switch to Oracle Linux from RHEL without modifying their applications, and we certify Oracle software products on RHEL even though they are built and tested on Oracle Linux only, never on RHEL.



While Oracle and IBM have compatible Linux distributions, we have very different ideas about our responsibilities as open source stewards and about operating under the GPLv2. Oracle has always made Oracle Linux binaries and source freely available to all. We do not have subscription agreements that interfere with a subscriber's rights to redistribute Oracle Linux. On the other hand, IBM subscription agreements specify that you're in breach if you use those subscription services to exercise your GPLv2 rights. And now, as of June 21, IBM no longer publicly releases RHEL source code.

Why did IBM make this change? Well, if you read IBM's blog attempting to explain its rationale, it boils down to this: "At Red Hat, thousands of people spend their time writing code to enable new features, fixing bugs, integrating different packages and then supporting that work for a long time … We have to pay the people to do that work."

Interesting. IBM doesn't want to continue publicly releasing RHEL source code because it has to pay its engineers? That seems odd, given that Red Hat as a successful independent open source company chose to publicly release RHEL source and pay its engineers for many years before IBM acquired Red Hat in 2019 for $34 billion.



The blog goes on to mention CentOS. It is no surprise CentOS was top of mind for the author attempting to justify withholding RHEL source. CentOS had been a very popular free RHEL compatible distribution. In December 2020, IBM effectively killed it as a free alternative to RHEL. Two new alternatives to RHEL have sprung up in CentOS's place: AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux. Now, by withholding RHEL source code, IBM has directly attacked them.

And perhaps that is the real answer to the question of why: eliminate competitors. Fewer competitors means more revenue opportunity for IBM.

As for Oracle, we will continue pursuing our goal for Linux as transparently and openly as we always have while minimizing fragmentation. We will continue to develop and test our software products on Oracle Linux. Oracle Linux will continue to be RHEL compatible to the extent we can make it so. In the past, Oracle's access to published RHEL source has been important for maintaining that compatibility. From a practical standpoint, we believe Oracle Linux will remain as compatible as it has always been through release 9.2, but after that, there may be a greater chance for a compatibility issue to arise. If an incompatibility does affect a customer or ISV, Oracle will work to remediate the problem.

We want to emphasize to Linux developers, Linux customers, and Linux distributors that Oracle is committed to Linux freedom. Oracle makes the following promise: as long as Oracle distributes Linux, Oracle will make the binaries and source code for that distribution publicly and freely available. Furthermore, Oracle welcomes downstream distributions of every kind, community and commercial. We are happy to work with distributors to ease that process, work together on the content of Oracle Linux, and ensure Oracle software products are certified on your distribution.

By the way, if you are a Linux developer who disagrees with IBM's actions and you believe in Linux freedom the way we do, we are hiring.

One observation for ISVs: IBM's actions are not in your best interest. By killing CentOS as a RHEL alternative and attacking AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux, IBM is eliminating one way your customers save money and make a larger share of their wallet available to you. If you don't yet support your product on Oracle Linux, we would be happy to show you how easy that is. Give your customers more choice.

Finally, to IBM, here's a big idea for you. You say that you don't want to pay all those RHEL developers? Here's how you can save money: just pull from us. Become a downstream distributor of Oracle Linux. We will happily take on the burden.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Easo]

Truly ironic, yet the words are correct.

 

[Nostras]

What bizarre world is this with Oracle stating this?

 

[unwind-protect]

Parallel universe.

 

[R-T-B]

As strange as it is, I agree with Oracle.

 

[L'Eliminateur]

What bizarre world is this with Oracle stating this?

i was going to comment exactly this, ¿how far do you need to fall for ORACLE of all the greed-fueled uber-shit soulless corpo out there has to call you on it?

truly we're in the most bizarre timeline

 

[R-T-B]

i was going to comment exactly this, ¿how far do you need to fall for ORACLE of all the greed-fueled uber-shit soulless corpo out there has to call you on it?

truly we're in the most bizarre timeline

The most bizzare thing is the shit they are calling IBM on is actually bad and not just poo flinging as I'd expect.

So weird.

 

[Ferrum Master]

I felt for moment that I am drunk... yet I haven't had any stiff ones...

Oracle? Really?

 

[N3utro]

IBM: your free trial of RHEL has expired

Oracle:

 

[wNotyarD]

I felt for moment that I am drunk... yet I haven't had any stiff ones...

Oracle? Really?

Oracle is just the behemoth (with many skeletons on its own closet) which is calling IBM out on their shenanigans. The funniest thing now is SUSE announcing their RHEL distro (which made the community go LOL WHAT). Any RHEL-based community distro (i.e. Alma and Rocky as mentioned), though, is scrambling to define what they'll do with their lives.

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

Truly ironic, yet the words are correct.

Oracle's past actions are irrelevant with respect to determining the validity of their argument.

 

[bug]

IBM: your free trial of RHEL has expired

Oracle:

View attachment 304830

Exactly. What were they going to say since their version of Linux has been built on top of RHEL?

 

[Bato Loco]

In 2006 Larry Ellison tried to buy the Jboss company that he already thought was done. but Red Hat won in the end. Six months later, Oracle released Unbreakable Linux promising lower prices than Red Hat (up to 60% less) and 5-year support using the source code and individual .srpm files with fixed patches that Red Hat publishes regularly for free.
Simply to compete in a childish way.
Because of this, in 2011 Red Hat had to change its policy and published the .srpm with the already compiled fixes to make it difficult for Oracle. and now this Ellison comes with free software lessons. Source in spanish: https://diegocg.blogspot.com/2011/03/los-parches-de-red-hat.html

 

[bug]

In 2006 Larry Ellison tried to buy the Jboss company that he already thought was done. but Red Hat won in the end. Six months later, Oracle released Unbreakable Linux promising lower prices than Red Hat (up to 60% less) and 5-year support using the source code and individual .srpm files with fixed patches that Red Hat publishes regularly for free.
Simply to compete in a childish way.
Because of this, in 2011 Red Hat had to change its policy and published the .srpm with the already compiled fixes to make it difficult for Oracle. and now this Ellison comes with free software lessons. Source in spanish: https://diegocg.blogspot.com/2011/03/los-parches-de-red-hat.html

Eh, Oracle sued Google over Java, despite Google not having a Java implementation at all. Oracle argued that simply using Java API is infringement. "Ironic" does not begin to describe what we're looking at here.

 

[Totally]

Interesting. IBM doesn't want to continue publicly releasing RHEL source code because it has to pay its engineers? That seems odd, given that Red Hat as a successful independent open source company chose to publicly release RHEL source and pay its engineers for many years before IBM acquired Red Hat in 2019 for $34 billion.

Well, after they pay their investors, and overpaid execs, there's not that much left to go around.
AndLOL@Oracle for taking the moral highground bc their parasite status is threatened since can't leech off of IBM anymore and will have to pay to keep using IBM's fork. I'm sure if the situation was reversed Oracle would have those paywalls up before any kind of announcement/warning was given.

 

[eidairaman1]

Linux is not completely open source. The only way Linux will truly compete against Microsoft is if a Distro becomes a hybrid

 

[bug]

Linux is not completely open source. The only way Linux will truly compete against Microsoft is if a Distro becomes a hybrid

It depends what "Linux" means to you.
To most people, it's the kernel and some system programs and libraries, which come almost exclusively from GNU (thus, as "completely open source" as it gets): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux
Add your desktop of choice and it's still free.
Install some closed source drivers, "completely open source" becomes debatable.

 

[R-T-B]

Linux is not completely open source.

Linux actually is. But most distros do indeed include closed source components (firmware etc). Some don't though. Debian is a completely free Open Source example. The OSS gpu drivers outside radeon suck though, and even Radeon sucks without closed firmware.

So no. Linux isn't and doesn't have to be. But if you want gpu acceleration you pick your battles quickly.

Well, after they pay their investors, and overpaid execs, there's not that much left to go around.
AndLOL@Oracle for taking the moral highground bc their parasite status is threatened since can't leech off of IBM anymore and will have to pay to keep using IBM's fork. I'm sure if the situation was reversed Oracle would have those paywalls up before any kind of announcement/warning was given.

It is ironic but keep in mind no one is "leeching" off anyone here. The whole thing is GPL and designed to be shared. If anything IBM and Oracle are both "leeching" off core linux dev work.

 

[Solaris17]

Im in awe at what I read, but my instinct still tells me I might get billed for reading the word "Oracle" so much in one article.

 

[jjj222]

IBM is run entirely by Apple drones at this point.
Half their business is peddling and supporting Apple's proprietary trash.
Makes sense they hate freedom and undermine it.
Apple were the cofounders of ARM, a company that pretends to support freedom by throwing a few table scraps to FOSS while doing everything else in their power to ensure every ARM device that reaches end users is 99.999999999% locked down with zero user freedoms. 40 years of pleas from users to support BIOS or UEFI as a standard on ARM, and they still outright refuse to implement anything that would give users full freedom on their own devices.

 

[L'Eliminateur]

Im in awe at what I read, but my instinct still tells me I might get billed for reading the word "Oracle" so much in one article.

Ellison's coke-n-whores on a boat are not cheap man

 

[Nordic]

we are hiring

Regardless of their sincerity, this might be a fantastic way to advertise open positions.

 

[LFaWolf]

Oracle? Oracle has been slowly killing the Open Source MySQL. Sure, IBM is bad...

 

[R-T-B]

Oracle? Oracle has been slowly killing the Open Source MySQL. Sure, IBM is bad...

This may be a pot calling the kettle black scenario, but it appears oracle actually has a legit point here for once.

 

[Tahagomizer]

Oracle saying something reasonable and true, it somehow feels dirty. Yet it is true and IBM really is doing a disservice to open source community.
If a company known for relentless greed and shady practices calls you out on greed and shady practices you might want to take a long look at yourself.