Use Oracle install defaults if you want a crap character set

My big lesson with Oracle installations:

• Never install a starter database
• Never "next through" the default options when creating a database

This is because the default character set is usually something like WE8MSWIN1252, but a lot of apps require Unicode these days.

These default character sets are never strict subsets of Unicode character sets and consequently require a lengthy migration process to convert to something like AL32UTF8.

Instead use the Database Configuration Assistant to create your database, and make sure you select something suitable on the Character Sets tab.

I'm fully aware that best practice is to work through a 10 page checklist to tick off all the prerequisites, but sometimes life's just too short.