"Oracle Selects the Solaris 10 Operating System as Its Preferred Open Source 64-bit Development and Deployment Environment"
So what? They also made a big deal about supporting it on 64 bit linux http://www.oracle.com/corporate/press/2005_aug/ondemand%20on%2064bit%20linux.html
What does "preferred" really mean? It doesn't mean anything to the user. Oracle had dropped Solaris as it's "preferred" platform for a while, then re-announced it. Apparently Linux is good enough for Tropicana and Unocal.
Oracle also made a big deal that they "lead on Linux." "According to Gartner's recently released relational database management system (RDBMS) market share results for 2004, Linux is the fastest growing platform with 118 percent growth and Oracle is the top database on Linux with 81 percent market share."
Oracle Powers Data Center and Oracle® On Demand with 64-bit Linux
Oracle On Demand Customers Benefit from Oracle Technology and Applications Delivered on x86-64-bit Architecture
LINUXWORLD, SAN FRANCISCO, 10-AUG-2005 Extending its leadership and longstanding commitment to Linux, Oracle today announced that its Oracle(r) On Demand services and Oracle Data Center are now powered by the x86 64-bit architecture. Oracle E- Business Suite On Demand and Oracle Technology On Demand customers, such as Thermos, Cabot Microelectronics, Tropicana and UNOCAL Corporation, benefit from the high- performance, reliability and security provided by Oracle software on a low-cost, Linux platform.
Oracle provides support for the Linux operating system, makes technical contributions to the Linux kernel, and has forged strategic partnerships with hardware vendors and Linux distributors. At Oracle's world-class Data Center, Oracle On Demand customers have mission- critical, transactional applications deployed and managed on AMD-64-based Sun back-end systems running Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES). Oracle On Demand simplifies enterprise computing by eliminating the headache of handling software upgrades, patches, and day-to-day maintenance. Oracle On Demand customers have access to the latest capabilities and pay a predictable, monthly fee.
"As the leading enterprise software vendor driving adoption of the Linux platform, Oracle continues to test and deploy software on the latest architectures to give our customers all of the cost and performance advantages it delivers," said Juergen Rottler, executive vice president, Oracle On Demand and Support Services. "By building our own IT systems on Linux, we help our customers realize first-hand the business benefits as well as the lower IT costs associated with using Linux in an x86 64-bit operating environment."
Oracle Leads with Linux
Since introducing the first database to run on Linux in 1998, Oracle has been committed to furthering Linux adoption across the enterprise. According to Gartner's recently released relational database management system (RDBMS) market share results for 2004, Linux is the fastest growing platform with 118 percent growth and Oracle is the top database on Linux with 81 percent market share.1
Support has been a hallmark of the Oracle-Linux organization since June 2002 when Oracle began providing integrated support for the entire software platform, including the operating system. Currently, customers from around the globe tap into Oracle's global team for 24/7 technical support
But methinks you miss the point. Yes Oracle supports Linux. Yes Oracle supports Solaris.
Here is the dirty truth: Oracle doesn't care what OS you are running as long as you are running Oracle software on top of it! And, I might add, giving Oracle lots of money for the privledge.
When Solaris was SPARC only, Oracle promoted Linux, because "free" software (RH support fees not withstanding), on cheap x86 hardware meant customers had more money left over to give to Oracle!
Once Sun started giving away Solaris and promoting it on x86, Oracle decided it still liked Sun.
Oracle is not a friend of Linux or Solaris. Oracle is a friend of Oracle and nobody else.
FYI your link is from last summer. We're now past Thanksgiving, and the preferred platform is now Solaris.
Face it, a lot of people don't like Linux. It's causing partnerships once before unthinkable, like microsoft/sun, microsoft/palm, and apple/intel. And yes, since you seem far far behind on current events, those partnerships have recently happened.