Fixes are not back-ported," he said. There is also uncertainty about using Linux intellectual property, since "SCO started suing everyone in sight -- customers and everyone," Ellison said. "This uncertainty is slowing adoption of Linux in large customers." Ellison also said the industry must be careful not to "fragment" Linux. However, it was unclear if Oracle support would extend to non-Red Hat Linux distributions. Oracle executives later said they might look at support offerings for other distributions going forward. This move could have impact well beyond Red Hat. At least one analyst said this move could stymie Microsoft's SQL Server's move into the data center.The relative cost of SQL Server running in a data center compared to Oracle 10g running on Linux in the data center is now roughly equal, given Linux' low cost, said Stuart Williams, analyst with Technology Business Research, a Hampton, N.H.-based research firm. "Oracle just cut Microsoft off at the pass," he said.