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Comment by markfeathers | Hacker News Reader

Anyone using VitualBox please be careful about the extension pack. Oracle is very litigous.

https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/147k6az/oracle_is... https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/d1ttzp/oracle_is_... https://www.theregister.com/2019/10/04/oracle_virtualbox_mer...

We banned virtualbox in our organization since vmware workstation (or virt-manager) is way cheaper than dealing with oracle.

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Exactly what I came to comment. Same thing here, they seemed to hyperfixate on the extension pack which most VBox users would need. We had to get everyone off that as soon as possible.

Of course this isn't limited to VBox, but their database as well. Just avoid.

Just noting that USB 2.0/3.0 support no longer requires the extension pack, and the list of features [1] that require the extension pack has been gradually decreasing. It may not be as necessary as it once was.

[1]: https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch01.html#intro-installing

USB was the only reason I ever had it. I need nothing from the current list.

What if you just ignored Oracle? Do they even have teeth? If they made a download free it should be free.

You can't hand someone a banana on the street and then come back 3 months later demanding $1000 for it.

If your organization uses any Oracle software then I'm certain that the organization has agreed to let Oracle audit it for license compliance at any time.

Oracle is that awful practices company. Their software audits are a notorious issue, and a good reason to never ever use software from them.

See the Oracle org chart for reference: https://www.unix.com/what-is-on-your-mind-/240815-org-charts...

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