I am moving away from microsoft as much as possible - Currently, there is a free version of sql server 2005 for developers. Is there a version of oracle like that? I can't use mysql because I'm using a third party app that still doesn't support it. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.
The app can run on mssql or oracle. A version that runs on mysql has been in beta for over a year, but I don't know if I can get my hands on it.
IIRC PostgreSQL is free and closer to MSQL then MySQL. Can't see there being too much of a problem getting it to run
I believe all versions of Oracle require a licence. However there is no requirement to enter a cd key etc & the software can be downloaded directly from their website. You need to sign-up, but do not have to pay to download it. I'm not saying that you should download if you don't have an apropriate licence. If it's for something at work, then they may have a site-wide licence already.
It's actually for an experiment - but work related.... I have the HD of my macbook pro partitioned with a boot camp partition and an OS X partition - but I want to try crossover for the third party 3 tier app I dev in (not web based - although they do have web functionality - but that's another story...) So - I know oracle will run in OS X - if I can get my app server to run in crossover and connect to a mac OS oracle server then I would not need windows at all.....
Oracle offer an "Express Edition" which, according to them, "is an entry-level, small-footprint database based on the Oracle Database 10g Release 2 code base that's free to develop, deploy, and distribute; fast to download; and simple to administer." Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it's available for OSX, only Linux or Windows.
