Oracle is considering to launch a version of the Linux operating system and is contemplating the purchase of one of the two firms dominating the technology. According to Financial Times report published on Monday citing an interview with Oracle's Chief Executive Officer, Larry Ellison, the move would redraw the U.s. software maker's landscape and open a new front in its competition with Microsoft.

Ellison told the newspaper that Oracle wanted to sell a full range of software that included operating system and applications, just like its rival Microsoft.

"We're missing an operating system. You could argue that it makes a lot of sense for us to look at distributing and supporting Linux," he said.

The report said that like IBM, Oracle has counted on Linux, an open-source system whose code is open to anyone to view and adapt, to act as a counterweight to Microsoft's Windows, which has expanded rapidly from desktop PCs into corporate IT systems.

As part of a recent study of the open-source software market, Ellison told the newspaper, Oracle had considered buying Novell, which is the second biggest distributor of Linux, after Red Hat.