Ellison noted that Sun and Oracle will compete in certain areas of middleware, but added the companies needed to work together. He cited LDAP directories as one area of overlap.

Tuesday provided an opportunity for Oracle to endorse Sun at a time when Sun's financial prognosis has been in question, said analyst Jean Bozman, research vice president at IDC. "I think [with] alliances like this, one of the intentions is to underscore viability," Bozman said

The two executives mixed their presentations with humor, or attempts at such.

"Everybody here wants to know right up front, if we could just take this off the table [and get a] big announcement out of the way, are you buying Sun," McNealy asked Ellison to open the session.

"Well, you know, Scott," Ellison responded, interrupted by a request for "simple yes or no," from McNealy.