First, let me apologize for the delay in posting my closing blog entry. I had the best intention of doing this as soon as I got home, but quickly became wrapped up in “home stuff” so this slipped my mind till a reader was kind enough to remind me.
As soon as I got the reminder, I switched screens to write this entry because I remembered that there are others who are actually reading this blog. This is not a very controversial topic, so I don’t expect a lot of give and take. It’s just nice to know there are other blog readers out there 
Thursday, I must admit I was pushing my limits for “up” time and not as energized as I was earlier i the week. I’m sure it was the long hours and considerable walking that were responsible. One member of the IOUG staff clocked as many as eight miles per day on her pedometer!
In any case, I got up, packed, left my bags with the hotel for safekeeping and made it over to the conference center to be room monitor for Peter Koletzke’s university seminar on Jave for PL/SQL developers. I chose to monitor this session because the topic was of interest to me and Peter did not dissappoint. The class was very helpful, in particular the hands-on lab portion where I wrote my first (and probably last) Java code from “scratch”. That is one sure way to appreciate the tools such as Oracle Java Developer!
After this class it was off to the “great debate” of Linux vs commercial Unix. My take-away is that both are great OS’s and the right choice really depends on your corporate culture. If you are most comfortable with traditional time-tested support and upgrade model, stick to commercial Unix. If you want to be a little more daring, enjoy the cutting edge and the freedom of open source, there is no reason not to use one of the Linux flavors. There are numerous success stories to be told about Oracle users on either Unix or Linux.
In my opinion, the Linux case was a little stronger. Even the commercial Unix proponents admitted that in the long term Linux would emerge victorious. Some felt that support was likely to be better from the commercial Unix vendors, but that argument was quickly dismissed by user experiences of getting dozens of helpful immediate responses to questions posed on online Linux forums versus sometimes waiting a day or more for the commercial Unix support tech to call back.
Following the debate, Michael Abbey announced that Collaborate ‘06 was officially over. There was a much smaller crowd today, as many attendees had already left, but I visited with a few friends and had a casual lunch in the food court. It was interesting to see the conference center morph before our eyes as workers prepared it for the next event.
I hope this blog was of interest to you, whether you attended Collaborate ‘06 or not. Make plans now to join me next year as the conference changes name to Collaborate ‘07.
See you in Vegas,
Tony