The author puts Red Hat's decision to directly enter the
database field a sign that the field is wide open.
"Because of this, a well-marketed Open Source database (like the
one Red Hat proposes) could potentially do more to cement the hold
of Open Source software in the enterprise than the Linux OS itself.
In effect, it would transform Linux into a complete Open Source Web
applications platform, to compete with commercial offerings from
the likes of Sun, Oracle or Microsoft."
"And unlike the client OS market, where Mac OS and Windows users
are separated along well-defined lines, the server market is less
divided into OS 'camps.' A number of platforms have carved
successful niches, and so far there's no clear winner. Red Hat is
banking that this means there's opportunity for still more
platforms to enter the field."
"But the really refreshing thing about the database wars is that
no one vendor has to win. There's room for solutions at various
levels of price, speed, reliability and function. And so long as no
one vendor can control both sides of the computing equation -- both
client and server -- then no single vendor can control all of
computing; an overturned verdict in the Microsoft trial
notwithstanding."
