[postgis-users] Re: Who is using PostGIS

[Ken Lord]

Instead of Who is using PostGIS,  here is a good reason Why to use PostGIS.

The short answer:

- To avoid buying $60,000 in software with $13,000 in annual
maintenance fees, and to avoid a very unresponsive software company.

The long story behind it:

After 3 months and 18 days, a simple question I asked to the good
people at Oracle was answered.  ... It took 2 calls and the last 6
weeks for their offshore calling center to send my question to someone
at Oracle Canada, then 3 more emails and 4 more phone calls to get the
final answer.

My question:  Is there a developer's license for Oracle Spatial?

We have a client who can not use PostGIS due to beauraucratic reasons
and is already using Oracle Spatial for other purposes.  We need to
re-design some spatial queries we are using with PostGIS to produce
the same results in Oracle Spatial when the time comes to migrate our
application from our servers to theirs. Earlier on in the project
there was no call for a future migration.

Basically the answer to my question was NO.

In order to get Oracle Spatial, we would have to buy Oracle Enterprise
and the Oracle Spatial add-on. Because it is for a web application we
would have to pay the 'per processor' license instead of the 'per
user' license,  doubling the cost.

... by the way, 'per processor' really means 'per core' to Oracle!
Double the cost again if you have a dual core processor ... I was sure
they promised to the world not to charge on a per core basis a couple
years ago, I guess they couldn't resist.

So, if we were to go the crazy route of acquiring the software to
re-disign our queries to work for our client's system, the cost in
Canadian dollars as of last week would be:

(for a server with one processor with one core)
Oracle Enterprise: $47,440
Oracle Spatial: $11,860
Total: $59,300

... and add $13,046 per year in maintenance fees if you feel inclined
to pay them more.

I asked why anyone would spend that kind of money when there is a good
free alternative that does not limit you based on hardware or number
of users ... he responded that he could give me a discount of around
15%.

I asked him why I should pay so much as a developer, when I have no
need for the software beyond building an application for someone who
is already paying the license fees ... he responded that they may be
able to assess our situation and discount the price a bit beyond the
15%.

Obviously we will be finding other ways around our little problem,
such as learning a little Oracle Spatial at our client's location.
Better some money goes to a hotel and airline ticket than to Oracle.

 ... and we will keep wondering why people spend that kind of money
when they don't need to.

Cheers,
Ken Lord
Vancouver BC