Benioff on Oracle deal: 'The end of software'

As you would expect, Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff had a few choice words to say about Monday's announcement that database giant Oracle is buying Siebel for nearly $6 billion.

In a letter to Salesforce.com employees, Benioff writes that "Oracle put Siebel investors out of their misery today. We have been doing that for Siebel customers for years." He added: "It's the end of software."

Of course you'd expect no less from Benioff. A brash former Oracle executive who's corporate emblem is the word "software" with a red-slash through it, Benioff sells a Web-based service that competes with Siebel's customer relationship management (CRM) software.

To read the full letter to Salesforce.com employees, click here.