12 August 2007 - 02:14Oracle tiptoes into Linux Directory Space
At LinuxWorld last week the Symas team was too wrapped up in OpenLDAP, book, and HP activities to spend a lot of time in other peoples' booths. So we missed Oracle's release of Centralized Security and User Authentication Services for Linux described in this blog entry. Welcome one and all but this explanation left us giggling.
For the record, OpenLDAP with its Samba schema and Symas's Unified User Management (pam_ldap and nss_ldap) have been in production in customer installations for some time now. Symas looks for OpenLDAP and Samba to get closer together as Samba 4 rolls out. Oracle? Who?
The Oracle XE "Free Edition" is available for free so long as it is used in compliance with the slightly restrictive license. No more than one instance on any machine, runniing on no more than one CPU, using no more than 1GB of RAM and 4GB of data including the database's own. That's free software for you ... OK, So, assuming that's all OK, try to find the downloads. I found the OID (Oracle Internet Database) pages but when I went to look for downloads, couldn't find OID listed on the download page. I'm sure it's all in process but the Web page, a ponderous reflection of the Oracle dinosaur, hasn't caught up yet. We make these notes so we'll remember to go back in a month or so to see if we can stitch the pieces together. OpenLDAP has had support for PAM and Samba for some time. Thanks to all in the community that have helped with that. OpenLDAP is Open Source Software. It is community built, supported, and maintained. It is available for any use you choose to put it to on any configuration with as much data as you'd like. Symas has never tried to benchmark any of the Oracle Internet Directory stuff as it's been well protected by cost and restrictive licenses. We have some anecdotal information that we've beaten OID in benchmarks (and by a wide margin) but have no data of our own. Perhaps, if the Oracle folks can get it all available for download under their demo-ware licensing, we can get up the energy to do a benchmark or three to see how it stacks up. In the meantime, all of the indications are that OpenLDAP remains the fastest and most reliable LDAP directory on the planet and that this new entry is more a marketing ploy than a serious player in an increasingly competitive space. To their credit, though, Oracle seems to be inching closer to understanding and, at some level, embracing the new Open Source platform and paradigm. We welcome that and them as they seem to be increasingly serious about learning to compete as the software market shifts more to this new business model. We are where we think the world is heading ... and welcome all comers. ... marty and jordan.
No comments: No trackbacks: