You should clarify that you are referring to Larry Ellison, the head of Oracle, and not Stephen Colebourne, author of the article.

You are right. I was just writing a flippant joke. The author of the post wrote a great article. I am also not insulting Larry Ellison. He (Larry E) is an interesting, very successful, guy. I am just saying he tends to win in competitions. Once you are locked in, you have to pay.

Exactly the misconception that I had

Yes, I definitely don't own an island!

sorry, I was not clear. I am also not knocking owning an island. Thats a great situation to be in. If I am successful full enough in life, I will buy one! I am just saying don't mess with the dude. He tends to win.

The only people who "own islands" are James Bond-type villains, right? Right?

The dude owns an island, so he obviously can't be trusted. It follows reason.

Sorry, thats not what I meant. I was half joking/flippant. I meant to imply that Larry Ellison is very good at his job. His job is getting people locked into expensive proprietary languages (embrace and extend java) and DBs. Once your company thrives it becomes very difficult to get off their proprietary tools (which are excellent btw). Then you are forced to pay the man. I actually like the guy. His sailboat racing is really great tech.