[Info-vax] HP wins Oracle Itanium case

[David Froble]

JF Mezei wrote:
> johnson.eric at gmail.com wrote:
> 
>> Wow.  I am very surprised.  I really thought it would have to swing the
>> other way.
> 
> I am not surprised.  HP has not yet breached its side of the contract
> since IA64 boxes are still being produced and there is at least 2 new
> IA64 chips in the pipeline.
> 
> Now, had Oracle signed a contract where its obligations ended "when it
> becomes obvious that IA64 is being EOLed", then the judge would have had
> to really consider the evidence presented by Oracle. But as it stands,
> even when HP formally announces the end of the line after Kittson with
> last sale 3 years after that, Oracle is still bound by the contract it
> signed to produce for IA64 until that last sale.
> 
> So Oracle loses out because in the future, it will be bound by that
> contract to produce new versions even though nobody buys new IA64
> systems. But this will give more time for HP-UX customers to migrate to
> another platform and reduce the dramatic loss of customers experienced
> by BCS in the last year.
> 
> 
> Oracle has already hurt HP's BCS finances and image in a serious way.
> And as long as there are no penalties for that, Oracle still comes out
> ahead.

</Broken Record>

It is an interesting decision.  If you read the language, it's pretty clear.  Oracle tried 
to obscure the pertainent part of the agreement.  It's refreshing to see a reasonable 
outcome in a court case.  Or, HP's bribe was bigger than Oracle's.

That said, you have to wonder what kind of games Larry will play.  "Bug? Ok, we'll look at 
it, ....", and time passes, and such.  Can production shops put up with problems that stop 
them dead in the water?  Can they wait 3 weeks for Oracle to look at the problem?

Would Larry go so far as to introduce problems ??