I should add that Adobe used to be loved by us nerds. They always had management issues, I think, and developed a reputation as a software sweat shop I think; but back up until the mid or even late 90s they were seen as a high quality software maker with innovative products. Photoshop & Illustrator were untouchable, and they were seemingly inspired by and made best on the Mac so helped make the Mac kind of a hip "creator" platform.
Oracle is not homogeneous, there are cool teams and projects alongside the terrible ones. Don't mistake Larry Ellison as representing all of the 200,000 people employed by Oracle.
Sure there are cool teams in every org. What is the probability I will join one of them if they are very small % of workforce, even if you do join a such a team with great manager there is higher probability that will not last in orgs with bad reputation.
Also while teams have variances org culture is rarely so different. Toxic cultures , red tape bureaucracy, or how performance is evaluated is typically mostly global not localised.
That's isn't to say nobody should in such places, there are plenty of people who just want a paycheck and don't care where they work or what their work environment is like, these orgs are perfect for them.
If you are passionate about your work and environment, and compensation wise squeezing your current value immediately in cash is not your priority then most big orgs especially ones like Oracle are bad place for you
No doubt, fully agree with you! I'm only proposing to keep an open mind, because you never really know until you connect with the people.
I used to say so many nevers, "I'll never work for X, fuck them!", etc. As I've gotten older, I regret this manner of thinking my young self did. Always better to keep an open mind while still sticking to your guns.
Being idealistic is part of being young even when wrong that is good part of being young I think.
I am more regretful I can no longer make those kinds of decision anymore, older you are there is more responsibility and you are forced into pragmatic approach to life and let go principles and ideologies you fought for and deeply believe in .
But for two: "How can a $150B+ company exist with this much disdain" -- Have you looked at Oracle lately?