Linux version of database SW, up for free

NEW DELHI: Sybase has announced the availability of a limited-use Linux version of its popular database software, free of charge. Said an online report.

In the offering is its Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) Express Edition for Linux to enable enterprises build, test and deploy new applications, at no cost.

According to David Jacobson, Sybase's director of data management, more and more enterprises are now looking at open-source databases because of the cost benefits, to get started with.

The software is available for download at the Sybase Web site, and can be installed only on servers with a single processor and 2GB of memory. The database size cannot exceed 5GB, which according to Jacobson is a reasonable limit as most databases in the initial stages range in between half to two gigabyte.

Mixed Reactions...

Industry experts have expressed different views on this move. Charlie Garry, senior program director and analyst with the Meta Group is of the view that Sybase has taken this step mainly to compete against the growing popularity if open-source database software. But making a software available for free is very different from the concept of an open-source application because in case of open-source projects the entire community contributes regularly towards the product's betterment and Sybase will not get this benefit, whatsoever, he added. Sybase has taken this step just to create a buzz in the database space, but may not be very successful as MySQL already holds a prime slot in that space and software giants Microsoft and Oracle are heading for the same.

Noel Yuhanna, senior analyst with Forrester research opines that this move will attract customers operating in the small- to medium-sized business market to use Sybase database.

In this cold-war between software makers users stand to benefit as they can choose from a wide range of products and that too at no cost.