When I tried to download and install Oracle client 19c, it was my surprise that there are two different versions. See the following information from the oracle site:
So, what is the difference between these two versions?.
After some research I found that:
LINUX.X64_193000_client.zip is the normal (before 19c) installer-based client software, where you can choose what to install (Administrator, Runtime, Instant Client, Custom) and where to install it, then the installer copies the files to the destination and registers the client.
LINUX.X64_193000_client_home.zip is an “image” of and “Administrator” type installation, that you unzip to the destination folder then register it.
If we refer to the standard Oracle Documentation, we will find:
So in summary, with Oracle Database 19c, we have two ways to install the oracle client:
1- The traditional way (installer-based), wher you have the flexibility to select the installation type.
2- The image-based installation which is a little-bit fast, but it is administrator-type only.
For a quick demo about the oracle client database 19c installation using the first method, please see the following video:
References:
https://www.oracle.com/database/technologies/oracle19c-linux-downloads.html
Thanks
Ahmed
Ahmed AbdelFattah Blog ! 
Have you found any information about applying RUs to a client installed with the image method? I so far haven’t been able to find any; if a traditional OUI install is required if we want to be able to take up security updates, it would help to know that in advance. Right now we’re looking at installing 19.3 client but I wanted to update it to at least 19.10 in case of security fixes we might want.
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Ahmed, you are awesome! Thank you for slogging through the steps, making this issue clear for all.
Oracle is notorious for this kind of stuff (can you say “Oracle patch documentation”?). And don’t get me started on Oracle “Instant” Client which requires you to also download and install Microsoft Visual Studio! What’s “instant” about that???
Now that I know the difference, I’ll stick with the tried-and-true, old-school software distribution we all know and love.
Thank you!
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