I'm pretty sure if I wanted to get a primary contributor to any open source database software to consult on a project, it would be far far less,
Of course you could. But there's a bit of a fallacy w/r/t hiring consultants, if you hire someone directly (ie not through a company or agency) you can expect to pay about half of what you'd pay for the same person through an agency . The benefits of going through Oracle (as stated above) is if your consultant disappears you have another a phone call away, and because "no one ever got fired for buying IBM". However you pay for this privilege.
Of course you could. But there's a bit of a fallacy w/r/t hiring consultants, if you hire someone directly (ie not through a company or agency) you can expect to pay about half of what you'd pay for the same person through an agency . The benefits of going through Oracle (as stated above) is if your consultant disappears you have another a phone call away, and because "no one ever got fired for buying IBM". However you pay for this privilege.