Oracle’s Unbreakable Linux tries to neutralize Microsoft apps

t first blush, a successful Oracle Unbreakable Linux support program might appear to threaten Red Hat Inc., whose Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Oracle Corp. cloned and now supports for 50% less than Red Hat’s cheapest package. And now, Oracle says it has acquired 1,500 new Unbreakable Linux customers since this time last year – a dramatic increase over the mere 26 customers Oracle announced six months ago. During that time, Oracle has also signed a dozen new hardware partners, including EMC Corp., Egenera Inc. and Hitachi Data Systems. But despite an increasing edge on Red Hat’s domain, some analysts believe that Oracle’s Unbreakable Linux strategy is more about competing with Microsoft than it is about chipping away at Red Hat.