Oracle touts Linux at AU talkfest

Oracle Asia Pacific executive vice president, Derek Williams, raised the statistic to refute claims that enterprises are reticent about entrusting their core business applications to the operating system.

Williams added that over a third of its existing enterprise customers were currently either deploying, or trialling Linux with Oracle database software.

The use of the Linux operating system is a core component of Oracle's grid-computing strategy, the company's approach to recent trends to supply scalable, commodity IT infrastructure to enterprises, which is often referred to as on-demand or utility computing.

Oracle has partnered with Dell's blade server business for its strategy, opting for a standardised Intel hardware infrastructure, competing with rivals like IBM and Sun that have placed bets on proprietary systems.

Oracle president, Charles Phillips, said in his keynote address at the event today that Linux was the most efficient operating system to use alongside its software stack.

"We really don't need this large bloated operating system...the more it gets out of our way to let the database run the happier we are," said Phillips.

However, while the company's interest in Linux has been seen as a powerful endorsement of the open source operating system, it appears that the company's interest in it is unlikely to translate to large expansions in its enterprise functionality.

Phillips said that 94 per cent of calls to Oracle's technical support service concerned difficulties with third party applications.

Andrew Colley travelled to OpenWorld as a guest of Oracle.