随着开源数据库产品的日趋成熟，加上IBM和MS最近也提供免费的DB2和SQL Server版本，Oracle也将在年底前推出免费的Oracle 10g Express Edition (Oracle Database XE)。
数据库巨头Oracle宣布将于年底推出一款免费的Oracle 10g Express Edition，并于日前发布了Beta版。该免费版针对学生，小型组织及需要把Oracle数据库嵌入应用程序的软件供应商。
该免费版和Oracle其它数据库产品在技术上是相同的，不过当然存在许多功能上的限制，比如只支持单处理器，最大4GB存储空间和最大1GB内存。
Oracle服务器技术部高级副总裁Andrew Mendelsohn表示，该低端免费版瞄准的是免费和开源市场。
过去几年中，开源数据库在企业用户和Web开发人员中的流行程度不断提高。据统计，MySQL是目前开发人员中最流行的开源数据库。针对这样的情况，IBM 公司在本月早些时候随一种PHP开发包发布了DB2数据库免费版，而微软也计划在下月推出免费的SQL Server 2005 Express。
Mendelsohn说：“这个版本的发布是为了适应低端市场的需求，我们希望低端用户使用Oracle的产品而不是MySQL或SQL Server Express。”
Oracle 10g Express Edition免费下载：http://www.weste.net/2005/11-1/08215894222.html
Oracle to offer free database
By Martin LaMonica
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Oracle intends to release a free version of its database, a reaction to the growing competitive pressure from low-end open-source databases.
The database heavyweight on Tuesday is expected to announce the beta release of Oracle 10g Express Edition (Oracle Database XE), which will be generally available by the end of the year. It is targeted at students, small organizations and software vendors that could embed the Oracle database with an application.
The latest edition is the same as other databases in Oracle's lineup but is limited in usage. It can only run servers with one processor, with 4GB of disk space and 1GB of memory. Oracle on Friday offered a beta version of the new database for Windows and Linux on its Oracle Technology Network Web site.
The new low-end edition is aimed squarely at free and open-source alternatives to Oracle's namesake database, said Andrew Mendelsohn, senior vice president of Oracle's server technologies division.
Open-source databases have caught on steadily in popularity over the past few years with corporate customers and Web developers.
MySQL is the most popular open-source database among developers, according to a recent Evans Data study. IBM earlier this month released a free version of its own DB2 database as part of a PHP development package. And Microsoft intends to ship a free version of SQL Server 2005, called Express, next month.
"There is definitely a market there (for low-end databases) and a demand. And we want them to be using Oracle and not MySQL or SQL Server Express," Mendelsohn said. "It's definitely a reaction to the market interest."
About a year and a half ago, Oracle introduced Oracle 10g Standard Edition One, a version aimed at mid-size companies where Microsoft has many customers. That database is limited to two processors and cost $149 per user.
By introducing a free entry-level product, Oracle intends to get more developers and students familiar with its namesake database, Mendelsohn said. Those customers, Oracle hopes, will eventually upgrade to a higher-end version.
Previous Next "Even though the database is initially free, standards progress and those university students who are playing with the database today will eventually be working at corporations and making product decisions," he said. "We want to have mind-share with those people."
The Express Edition database can be distributed with other products. It will be available through Oracle's developer network and include a Web-based administration console development tools.
Separately, Mendelsohn offered comments on what Oracle intends to do with InnoDB, a storage engine for the MySQL database that Oracle acquired earlier this month.
He said Oracle intends to extend a contract with MySQL where the InnoDB storage engine is packaged with MySQL.
"There are all kinds of possibilities we're exploring," Mendelsohn said. "You might be seeing it showing up in Oracle products."