Version numbers: Oracle 11, should we be worried?

I’ve been working with and around Oracle databases for some ten years now. It’s not always been my primary focus but it’s always been there. And I like that.

However, I’m worried that Oracle is now reaching version 11. That’s a very mature product. Of course, it just keeps getting better and better, ignoring the obvious bugs that are an integral part of software development. But 11? This number keeps going up and up. How many software products are out there with a version number of 20, for example? I don’t know any, but that’s no surprise because there’s far too much that I don’t know. Version 8, version 9 – these say “I’m mature, I know what I’m doing, I’m not going anywhere.” But I’m starting to think that once we get to 12 and 13 this is saying “I’m getting on a bit, I’m legacy.”

I hope I’m wrong. Otherwise I might have to start paying more attention to the other tiers again. Not that’s a bad thing, of course.

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