As a practical matter, those running large HP-UX shops need to start planning a migration to PostgreSQL/EnterpriseDB ASAP; the RDBMS provides extensive Oracle compatibility features, including implementations of OCI and PL/SQL. If EnterpriseDB doesn't have a current port to Itanium, they're going to have one very soon, even without (though more likely with) strong encouragement from HP.
If you're running AIX, I'd offer the same advice (though you might also be inclined to investigate DB2 migration), since POWER could be next. And if you're using any Linux distro but Oracle's, well, don't feel too secure. Given this precipitate move to kill support for a major server competitor and its laughable justification, Oracle is proving to be a very bad actor intent on forcing us to migrate to their Sun hardware. Sorry the HP-UX guys had to take the first arrow in the back, but the rest of us had better take heed - it's time to jump off this merry-go-round before we're thrown off.
The best of ZDNet, delivered
ZDNet Newsletters
Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox
