Oracle Enterprise Linux (AKA Unbreakable)

When I first read about Oracle Unbreakable Linux I assumed that Oracle had partnered with Red Hat instead of Ubuntu (as many had expected). So, I was very surprised when I realized that Oracle had taken the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (RHEL4) Open Source source code and repackaged it themselves with an set of subscription support offerings that undercut Red Hat's prices.

I've been using the CentOS (Community ENTerprise Operating System version of RHEL4 myself for a while now. So, I understood the concept of taking Red Hat's source code and repackaging it. But, I was still surprised that Oracle took this route.

I took a look at Oracle's version and have a few observations.

• Oracle provides four zipped files containing four ISO CD-sized images. Why zip the image files? They don't compress well and it just adds to the effort of unpacking it once the downloads complete.
  
• Oracle doesn't provide a DVD ISO image which would simply installation...especially when virtualizing.
  
• Oracle calls it Unbreakable, but the installed Linux calls itself Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL), not Unbreakable.
  
• The installation routine looks exactly like the Red Het/CentOS ones.
  
• If you choose a custom installation, you can see a number of Oracle contributed installation options.
  
• Oracle names their config files system-config- as CentOS does instead of redhat-config- as Red Hat does.
  
• yum does not seem to have an out-of-the box configuration that works. Which archive sound an OEL administrator point to?
  
• I installed OEL in a virtual machine running under Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 Beta-2. It seems to work fine like this.