Oracle deal: Good omen for Linux group?

Oracle on Thursday lent UnitedLinux a hand in its turf battle with Linux leader Red Hat. The database heavyweight announced that it would provide technical support to customers who are using open-source software from UnitedLinux, a consortium of second-tier Linux companies. Oracle said it plans to work with UnitedLinux to identify technical-support problems and streamline the process of addressing those issues. It will service customers who have a support contract for Oracle products and who maintain an operating system support contract with any of the UnitedLinux members. The alliance also bolstered Oracle's push to bring Linux to the enterprise. UnitedLinux is a four-company consortium made up of SuSE, the SCO Group, Turbolinux and Conectiva, which teamed up to present a single front against Red Hat's dominance in the industry. Under the partnership announced at the CeBit trade show in Germany, Oracle will provide "level 3" support for its customers--the deepest level, meaning that it takes responsibility for the entire software package and doesn't have to refer any calls to Linux partners, said Dave Dargo, vice president of Oracle's Linux Program Office.