Introduced in June 2002, Oracle's Unbreakable Linux campaign is designed as an incentive to get customers to run Oracle's products on the open source operating system. It focuses on enhancing Linux performance, reliability, security, and manageability for enterprise use.

Full OS support
Under the terms of the partnership, Oracle will offer customers enterprise-level technical support for operating systems powered by UnitedLinux, in addition to support for the Oracle products, which cover each of the three enterprise technology tiers: database, application server, and applications themselves. It's working closely with UnitedLinux founding members -- Connectiva S.A., The SCO Group, Suse Linux AG, and Turbolinux -- to create a team that can service the entire Oracle software stack running on UnitedLinux products. The support service will be available to customers with an Oracle support contract for Oracle products and an operating system support contract with any of the four UnitedLinux founding members.

Oracle says it will identify technical support issues and fix them in collaboration with the UnitedLinux consortium to give customers a single point of contact. Oracle and the UnitedLinux vendors will work together to integrate required fixes/patches in future maintenance releases of the OS.

In a related announcement, the four founding partner companies for UnitedLinux will offer special support programs and discounts to independent software vendors participating in the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Partner Initiative.

Earlier in 2003, UnitedLinux 1.0 was certified for Oracle9i Database and the Oracle9i Real Application Clusters database clustering technology.

Products powered by UnitedLinux 1.0 include Conectiva Linux Enterprise Edition, SCO Linux Server 4.0, Suse Linux Enterprise Server 8, and Turbolinux Enterprise Server 8. Participating vendors hope that by joining together, they'll improve their ability to compete with Linux market leader Red Hat.