Re: Policy on Oracle Versions and Patches

On Oct 11, 6:30 pm, "Bob Jones" <em..._at_me.not> wrote:
> > 1. What version/patch level should be used for implementing brand-new
> > application assuming that:
> > - Is it critical
> > - Application vendor didn't provide any recommendation regarding
> > version
> > - Schema is simple, it does not use any advanced features
> > - Main priority is stability and absence of unplanned outages
>
> > It seems to me that the safest option would be to use version that has
> > a terminal patch set which is 9.2.0.8. Yes I know that it is
> > "unsupported" but does it really matter?
> > When starting anew, I'd go with the latest release available and test,
> > test, test, find bugs, report them to the vendor, to Oracle, and get
> > them fixed before you go live.
>
> If I followed this suggestion, I would have gone to 10g when it first came
> out, and not go live until all the bugs are fixed. That would be a good idea
> if I could convince the mangement to schedule our go-live dates according to
> Oracle's patch dates, or better yet become Oracle's beta test site.

I didn't mean *all* bugs, but all those directly affecting you. What will you do if you start with a terminal release and hit a bug in it? It's terminal meaning no more patchsets are going to be delivered, so you will be forced to either apply one-offs (which are not thoroughly tested by definition and may break other things,) or upgrade. Oracle fixes bugs in the current trunk first and then backports them to previous release branches as needed/possible (and I remember seeing fixes that could not be backported at all.) Generally it means that all Oracle releases/patchsets current as of the date of 9.2.0.8 release include the same fixes for common functionality (though of course there are numerous exceptions.)

Regards,

   Vladimir M. Zakharychev
   N-Networks, makers of Dynamic PSP(tm)    http://www.dynamicpsp.com Received on Sun Oct 12 2008 - 04:12:36 CDT