Is there an allusion or metaphor implicit here that I'm not getting?

On a tangential note, if you think The Story of O is about an abusive relationship, I'd say you haven't read the book or watched the movie: (i) O willingly enters the relationship (ordeal may be a better word here) and (ii) it's not your usual S&M or Belle de Jour story either, because she also gains power over her lover, e.g. see the last scene in the movie.

So, the analogy may be more apt than the crude master-slave relationship that people have commented here: many companies willingly choose Oracle, knowing full well its tactics and that they will be locked in.

Google propaganda suggesting (perhaps fairly) that a developer's relationship with Oracle is unavoidably abusive?

Bluntly, I assume he's implying it's an appropriate parallel to the relationship between Oracle and its customers, as described in the post. (I may be reading into it too much.)

I'd wager it has something to do with slavery. And I'd wager the development community is not on the dominant side of the analogous relationship.

Interesting - I first thought of The Wonderful O [1], a children's novel. A wholly different kind of evil there -- the villain would certainly also hate Open sOurce sOftware!

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Wonderful-O-James-Thurber/dp/155611189...