That would mark a major sea change for the Oracle database community, which has traditionally overwhelmingly relied on Sun.
The results were based on data provided by nearly 900 respondents, roughly 6% of the group’s overall membership. They were based on answers regarding the mix of platforms that are present in each shop. Consequently, respondents could enter more than one choice.
This year, half the respondents indicate they have at least some Solaris running Oracle. Windows 2000 is the next popular platform with at least a 40% share, followed by Windows Server 2003 and Linux at 37%.
By next year, respondents say those numbers will change to 44% Linux, 43% Solaris, followed by 37% Windows Server 2003 and, not surprisingly, a marked drop to 21% for Windows 2000. What’s interesting is that the survey implies that migration to Linux will come, not only from Solaris, but Windows as well.
The rationale for the shift to Linux is total cost of ownership. Admittedly, DBAs surveyed did not indicate how Sun’s plans for open sourced Solaris will impact their decisions.
