oracle

MySQL plans an initial public offering, Computer Business Review reported Tuesday. "We are planning to go public," Chief Executive Marten Mickos told the publication, adding that he's in no hurry to do so.

Mickos said in the interview that his company has spent less than half of the venture financing it's raised.

The move isn't a surprise, but Mickos hasn't been so overt about the possibility until now. Last year, when Mickos confirmed that Oracle sought to acquire MySQL, he gave the following explanation of his corporation's ambition: "We will be part … Read more

A trail of breadcrumbs seems to be connecting database powerhouse Oracle with the Ubuntu version of Linux.

The most recent crumb was a report last week by Jeffries & Co. analyst Katherine Egbert. "Our independent checks in the past two weeks indicate that Oracle seems to be close to introducing its own software 'stack,' featuring Ubuntu Linux. We have heard that Ubuntu is currently working to certify its recently introduced server operating system to all of Oracle's major products, including database and middleware," Egbert said.

A likely time to announce such news, she said, would be the … Read more

PALO ALTO, Calif.--Hewlett-Packard and Intel were pleased when Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison made a video appearance to help tout Itanium servers before mutual customers.

But there was much whispering and hubbub when the audience noticed the Compaq logo on his chest. The logo was retired for all but a few PC products after HP acquired its rival in 2002. Even HP and Intel CEOs Mark Hurd and Paul Otellini suppressed a chuckle as they watched from the stage at HP headquarters here.

It's likely Ellison can't plead ignorance for his branding faux pas. In a January … Read more

JBoss Chief Executive Marc Fleury isn't commenting on reports that Oracle plans to acquire his company, but the outspoken exec has published remarks in his blog that indicate there could be serious philosophical incompatibilities between the companies.

Specifically, JBoss' priority on open-source software (OSS) might not fit well with Oracle's proprietary products, judging by Fleury's view.

"JBoss has always been about pure open source. We started in OSS and we will die in OSS," Fleury said Tuesday on his blog.

In his blog, he singled out rivals IBM and BEA Systems with criticisms of appropriating … Read more

Mark Hurd and Paul Otellini, the respective chief executives of Hewlett-Packard and Intel, are joining mutual customers on March 2 in Palo Alto, Calif., to discuss work to further their alliance around the Itanium processor.

According to an advertisement for the event, which HP will Webcast, the two executives will "take the challenges of enterprise computing head-on." A video appearance by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison hints that there may be news addressing some of the software hurdles that have hobbled Itanium's arrival in the marketplace.

HP initiated the Itanium project in the late 1980s, then signed a … Read more

Oracle and JBoss haven't commented on a BusinessWeek report that the database giant is acquiring the open-source Java application server specialist--but a rival of both companies has confirmed that JBoss has been on the market.

BEA Systems, which sells application server software of its own, decided against acquiring JBoss when presented with the opportunity, said Chief Marketing Officer Marge Breya in an interview Friday. One significant problem was the price was too high, and another was that BEA didn't like JBoss' open-source practices.

"JBoss has been shopping itself around for months," Breya said, during which BEA … Read more

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif.--Oracle will extend its license to Sun Microsystems' Java software technology for another 10 years, Sun CEO Scott McNealy and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said Tuesday.

"You guys are signing up for another 10 years of collaboration and cooperation," McNealy said at an employee meeting at Oracle's headquarters here, praising Oracle for its years of work

The move comes a few months after another long-term Java licensee, IBM, also extended its Java license 10 years.

Larry Ellison and Scott McNealy, the respective CEOs of Oracle and Sun Microsystems, will squeeze their egos into the same room at Oracle headquarters Tuesday to detail partnership plans, according a Thursday news advisory.

The two executives have had a close business relationship for years; Oracle's database and other server software products are popular on Sun's servers. But there has been some friction of late as Oracle touted Linux and Dell servers and McNealy bashed Oracle's pricing.

Tuesday's meeting, billed as a "Sun/Oracle employee town hall," will address a number of issues, according … Read more

Sun Microsystems Chief Executive Scott McNealy took potshots at many of his peers in the computing industry during a keynote address Tuesday--even at Larry Ellison, leader of the company hosting the Oracle OpenWorld conference at which McNealy spoke before an audience of 12,000.

Shortly after introducing servers based on Sun's new UltraSparc IV+ processor, McNealy showed a slide picturing him in jeans and Ellison in characteristically sharp attire. "That suit! You can buy 14 of our new servers for that suit," McNealy quipped.

He also listed the supposed song playlist on Ellison's iPod: "… Read more