The End Of Richard Foote’s Oracle Blog (“Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide”) July 20, 2023
Posted by Richard Foote in Richard Foote Art, Richard Foote Farewell.trackback
NOTE -THIS BLOG IS NO LONGER BEING MAINTAINED!!!
(Content may no longer be up to date or accurate with current versions of Oracle)
Of all my many Oracle blog posts, this particular post will remain with me the longest, for not only is it the last blog post I’ve done in a while, but it’s the last blog post I’ll ever do!!! (Yes, this statement is a complete ripoff of David Bowie’s famous 3rd July 1973 farewell speech, when he killed off his Ziggy Stardust character.)
I can distinctly remember a number of Oracle colleagues saying way back in 2007 when I first started blogging, why on earth am I focusing on Oracle Indexing, surely after a few months I’ll run out of ideas or new topics to discuss. I certainly had no idea or expectation that it would last so long or that it would garner over 2.75 million hits.
But after all these years and over 500 Oracle Database related articles, with most of them indeed discussing Oracle Indexing, the time has come to finally pull up stumps.
After retiring from Oracle training and consulting, and closing down my business earlier in the year, my initial plan had been to do a “Jonathan Lewis”, retire from work, but continue to keep my hand in and continue to blog and attend Oracle conferences for at least a while. But in the intervening months, I’ve found that all my other hobbies and interests have completely taken over all my time, and I now have neither the inclination nor motivation to do all the hard work that’s necessary to truly keep up with Oracle Database technology. This blog has never really been about just rehashing what’s already in the Oracle Documentation, but about trying to discover those not-so-obvious but useful details regarding how to effectively index an Oracle database and discussing in detail the reasons for all the many misperceptions regarding how Oracle indexes actually work, should be used, and should be maintained. But that requires time, lots of time – that I no longer have.
So it’s certainly with mixed feelings that I’ve decided to leave my life in the Oracle Database universe and explore other new and exciting things to do in life.
I would like to sincerely thank all of you, the readers of my blog, for all the wonderful feedback and insightful comments I’ve received over the years. You have ultimately been my source of inspiration and motivation for keeping this blog going for so many years. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in the Oracle Database community that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting at so many conferences in so many different places all over the world. I’ve made so many friends and had so many great times, that it has really been a fabulous ride. I want to give a special shoutout to all my fellow members within the Oracle OakTable and the Oracle ACE Program for letting me be a part of such a distinguished group of Oracle professionals. Although I’ve had the honor of again being eligible to be an Oracle ACE Director for 2023-2024, I’ve decided to turn down the offer and move on.
I have had many many many highlights in my Oracle career, working with many amazing colleagues and addressing the complex performance problems of many Oracle databases. Since my first public presentation at the ACT Oracle User Group conference in 1997, some highlights include the infamous “Good DBA Bad DBA” presentation at Oracle OpenWorld in Brisbane in 1999, being one of the first 4 nominated AUSOUG Oracle Masters, and being given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the UKOUG, even though I had only attended the two UKOUG conferences at the time (yes, I took it as a positive and not a sign to stay away), but my main highlight was really just meeting so many wonderful people around the world.
As this blog is free to administer, I have no plans to take it down, although I might disable the ability to post comments at some point. So I’ll leave this site up as a lasting legacy of my time in the Oracle universe, with most of the content still highly relevant and still attracting many curious visitors each week.
One of the activities that takes up much of my time is my art, and with commissions now coming in, it is the perfect way to spend sunny days whilst listening to the music of David Bowie. You can keep track of me and my art work at richardfooteart.com. Here’s just a sample of my art:
I sincerely wish you all the very best for the future and happy Oracle indexing 🙂
Bye-bye.
Hi Richard,
I cannot even begin to tell you how much I have learnt from you and your blog posts. You have thrown more light on Oracle Indexing than anyone I can recollect. The amount of knowledge you have shared with us is truly remarkable.
Thank you very much for all your contributions and the Oracle galaxy will miss a shining star. Farewell and wish you the very best of everything in the future.
Warm regards,
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Thanks Anand, that’s very kind to say 🙂
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Hey Richard. Good luck with the retirement and art, best wishes for the future.
I retired too, with a view to keeping abreast of Oracle things, but got distracted by writing books about the Arduino! Funny things happen when you retire.
Thanks for all the help you have been over the years, I could have done it without you, eventually, but it would have taken forever!
Cheers,
Norm.
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Thanks Norman for the kind words, much appreciated. I must admit, I’m rather looking forward to the future 🙂
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Wait a minute, are you saying you are not actually David Bowie?
All the best mate!
Cheers
Tim…
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Thanks Tim
Ha, had you fooled all this time !!
OK, not really… 🙂
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Thank you for everything you’ve shared with the community over the years, especially all the stuff I’ve learnt from you. I wish you all the best with the many things you are now spending your time on, especially the plastic surgery you have planned to make you look like your profile picture 😁
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Thanks Martin for all the fun times and for your friendship. I actually once visited a plastic surgery, but they said keep your money, we can’t improve on perfection… 🙃
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The man, the myth, the legend….
Of course I’m talking about Bowie 🙂
Still hope to see you at the occasional aussie event, even if you just come to heckle.
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Thanks Connor, I did make the offer a few times to the local folks, but no response. But you are officially NOT safe from any future possible heckles 🙃
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God bless you sir. Enjoy your deserved retirement, knowing you helped a lot the Oracle community for these many years. Well done, thank you VERY VERY MUCH.
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Thank you Eduardo for the kind words, much appreciated 🙏
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You and your content will be missed. Continued success in your art endeavors. Best of luck in this new phase of your life. Thank you for all of your time and effort to educate us all in both Oracle indexing and, of course, the music of David Bowie.
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Thanks Tony, it’s been my pleasure. Now go and listen to some David Bowie, you won’t regret it 🙃
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Thanks a lot for all your efforts that went into this blog, Richard! 🙏
I’ve learned quite a bit from reading it, and it helped me to better serve my customers when it comes to performance.
I also enjoyed looking at some of your artwork along the way, and I wish you lots of joy in pursuing your new “career”. 😊
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Thanks again Uwe, it really means a lot to know I’ve helped in some way 🙏
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Wow! Wish you a happy retirement and best wishes!
Thank you for sharing your deep knowledge, I never could have imagined there is so much to explore in Oracle indexes! You will be missed, and I am thankful that I can still be able to access your great articles.
With very little internal documents being produced by Oracle and all the great guru’s either retiring or moving away to other technologies, there isn’t much left to look forward as far as Oracle RDBMS is concerned.
-Madhu Sreeram
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Thanks Madhu for your best wishes and kind feedback, much appreciated 🙏. There are some good Oracle sources out there (Jonathan Lewis, Connor McDonald, Tim Hall etc.) but they’re getting harder to find.
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Fair winds and following seas! You have been a great source of posts over the years for my little Priority Service Infogram. Thank you!
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Thanks Chris, I’ll definitely take fair winds going into the future 🙃
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I’m experiencing such a mix of emotions right now: both sadness (for me) and joy for you! Although I sincerely wish you to enjoy all your other hobbies and interests, I can’t help but hope that you might still share many new and interesting technical discoveries and explanations! Your expertise and insights have been invaluable to the Oracle community, and though your decision is fully respected, your contributions will undoubtedly be missed.
Best wishes on your new journey!
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Thanks Sayan, you’re making me feel all emotional. You never know what the future truly holds, but I’m truly looking forward to the new adventures 🙃
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I thoroughly recommend “The Laughing Gnome” one of, if not the, best Bowie songs ever! 😉
Norm.
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Well, that didn’t go where it should have! It was in response to Richard’s “now go an listen to some good Bowie music.”.
Sigh.
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I simply love The Laughing Gnome, it’s just so dark and edgy. Oooops, sorry, that’s Station To Station, I always get those two confused… 🙃
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Thanks Richard for your contribution for Indexing us in Oracle DB we follow your blog more than MOS for index related any query, as Anand said you are star and we all know you are Sirius star so I hope you will keep shining in Oracle Galaxy.
Wish you All the Best !
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Thank you PP for your kind words, much appreciated 🙂
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I actually happened to bump into this post only now. I am sad. I have gained so much insight about indexing from your blogs. Wish you all the best. Love your Art type too.
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