This is a topic I wanted to address for a long time. I really do wonder, why Oracle does not provide any updated database for MacOS X. They made their Oracle Express Edition available for Debian, Mandriva, Novell, Red Hat and Ubuntu Linux and of course Windows but not for MacOS X.
I keep on hearing that Oracle is trying to lure over more and more SME or trying to establish Oracle as a alternative to MySQL for any internet project but at the same time missing out the platform that a lot of internet developers use, the MacOS X. Sure, we all have a server in-house, be it Windows or Linux with a database installed but sometimes it is needful to have a database locally.
One could argue that the Mac is not a serious platform for any database business. First off, MacOS X is nothing else then Unix underneath plus tests with Oracle 10.1 (yes, they released that version for MacOS X but only together with MacOS X Server) have shown that MacOS X is a much better platform then Windows or even Linux. Given the ease of administration and the secure OS I challenge that MacOS X is even a better platform then all off them together. It is a fact that maintenance and downtime are reduced heavenly on the MacOS X platform.
So again, I am asking why is there no updated Oracle 10.2 R2 or even 11g for MacOS X? Oracle employees, please take a look at your very own forum, there are hundreds of people wanting to run Oracle databases on their own development machines and want to deliver their solutions on a Mac. Market share for the Mac on the server platform is on the rise. So, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give us Oracle (and keep it updated) on the Mac.
On the topic of installation and running I have found this website which is all about Oracle on the Mac and this dedicated website from Oracle about Oracle on the Mac (there is hope since there is a dedicated website about it). Of course we could also start up a virtualisation tool like Parallels (Version 3.0 just arrived) and install CentOS (or any other Linux on to it) and install Oracle in there, but why do I want to install another flavor of Unix and waste system resources when I am already running the best OS on the planet?
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While OSX is making inroads I don’t think it will ever be a serious contender in the server room. Too little too late. In your post you mention ‘hundreds’ of users, unfortunately that’s a really small number considering millions of people develop on Oracle. I’ve worked in IT for 15+ years now and I’ve never met anyone who uses - nor seen, a Mac in a data center.
Still though, since OSX is built off of BSD you’d think it would be possible to port things over with little effort. I run Ubuntu so I don’t have to worry about it.
Hello there
I don’t know where you have spent your 15 years in IT, but in my 15 years I have seen a lot of Macs in the data centers as well (we have a couple here and provide hosting on it). I also think that with OS X they will gain momentum on the server market as this has also been noted.
I do agree, that a couple of hundred people will not convince Oracle to invest resources into the development of a product, but then again companies that have invested into the Mac have never been let down. Usually Mac developers are quite loyal and a Oracle Express Edition would not hurt
I agree that there will not be many productive oracle installations on a default mac, but the developer community on a mac is growing at a very high rate. So I see no reason why Oracle should not take the investment to create an express edition for OS X. The past is not always a good guide in this sector of industry.