Informix vs The World
Hi, I am using Informix and I love it but I want to know if learning Oracle would be better for my career. Where can I find a no bullshit comparison of Oracle, Informix, Sybase, etc? I would like to know the basic comparisons with respect to maintenance issues, performance benchmarks, stability, tools, etc. Thanks, Ted Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.
Okay, you want a no bullshit answer - here it is. Forget which is better or which does what. There are only two things that matter. 1) Which one is the market leader. You may think that Oracle sucks, but Oracle OWNS the RDBMS market. Last data I saw shows Oracle has over 55% of the RDBMS market and is #1 by far on everything other than IBM mainframes where DB2 has the advantage. 2) Which one pays the best. Due to its flexibility Oracle is complicated. As a result Oracle developers and DBAs tend to make more money than those working with other RDBMS products. Learn Oracle. You will make yourself more employable and will enjoy the big bucks that Oracle skills command in the marketplace. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Original Message <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< On 6/7/00, 9:05:52 AM, tslusser@bigfoot.com wrote regarding Informix vs The World: > Hi, > I am using Informix and I love it but I want to know if learning Oracle > would be better for my career. Where can I find a no bullshit > comparison of Oracle, Informix, Sybase, etc? I would like to know the > basic comparisons with respect to maintenance issues, performance > benchmarks, stability, tools, etc. > Thanks, > Ted > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ > Before you buy.
As a former Informix DBA, I too was faced with the same dilemma several years ago. Now that I am heavily emersed in the Oracle world, I have this to offer: 1. From a technology standpoint. They are both solid and stable products. They both have their pros and cons. You can argue this topic forever, with no resolution. I have noticed, however, that a lot of "new" features that Oracle has introduced in Oracle8 and 8i have been in Informix for years (go figure). 2. Becoming and Oracle DBA was the best career move I've ever made. It has been an absolute boon to my career. Never have my skills been in more demand. Don't get me wrong, Informix DBAs are still in demand, but compared to Oracle demand, it's minor. If you don't believe this, just do a keyword search for "Oracle DBA" on all of the major job boards. Then do the same for Informix. 3. Oracle has won the e-commerce RDBMS battle. For major websites, Oracle has become the preference in corporate America. IBM (DB2/UDB), and SQLServer are trying to make inroads, but Informix is not even in the running. The fact that Oracle now has the "mindshare" of corporate America is a huge obsticle for Informix to overcome. My advice to you is to suck it up, and learn Oracle. Two years from now, you'll be glad you did. is a huge and blow to Informix In article <20000608.4122500@p200.nodomain>, Jerry Gitomer <jgitomer@erols.com> wrote: > > > Okay, you want a no bullshit answer - here it is. > > Forget which is better or which does what. There are only two things=20 > that matter. =20 > > 1) Which one is the market leader. =20 > > You may think that Oracle sucks, but Oracle OWNS the RDBMS market. =20 > Last data I saw shows Oracle has over 55% of the RDBMS market and is=20 > #1 by far on everything other than IBM mainframes where DB2 has the=20 > advantage. > > 2) Which one pays the best. > > Due to its flexibility Oracle is complicated. As a result Oracle=20 > developers > and DBAs tend to make more money than those working with other RDBMS=20 > products. > Learn Oracle. You will make yourself more employable and will enjoy=20 > the big=20 > bucks that Oracle skills command in the marketplace. > > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Original Message <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< > > On 6/7/00, 9:05:52 AM, tslusser@bigfoot.com wrote regarding Informix=20 > vs The World: > > > Hi, > > I am using Informix and I love it but I want to know if learning=20 > Oracle > > would be better for my career. Where can I find a no bullshit > > comparison of Oracle, Informix, Sybase, etc? I would like to know the= > > > basic comparisons with respect to maintenance issues, performance > > benchmarks, stability, tools, etc. > > > Thanks, > > Ted > > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ > > Before you buy. > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.
In article <8hlkri$vuo$1@nnrp1.deja.com>, <tslusser@bigfoot.com> wrote: > I am using Informix and I love it but I want to know if learning Oracle > would be better for my career. Oracle has a market share ten times as large as Informix. That means ten times as many jobs (actually, more, since Oracle seems to suck up personnel like a vacuum). Better for your career? Well, that depends on whether you're looking for flexibility (which Oracle offers, with more jobs open at any given time) or the opportunity to specialize (which Informix should provide just as much as Oracle, unless it is rapidly losing market share, in which case there will be a glut of Informix professionals disproportionately larger than the installed base of systems). miguel