Yick. oracle-ftp.oracle.com does indeed have only older, out of date
patchsets.
You can download the newer patchset directly from
metalink.oracle.com, but while possible, it is exceedingly annoying to
use wget to do so. E.g., for the
8.1.7.4 for 32 bit Solaris
patchset, try:
$ wget -b --http-user=MY_METALINK_USERNAME --http-passwd=PASSWORD 'http://ap103aru.us.oracle.com/ARULink/PatchSearch/process_download/p2376472_8174_SOLARIS.zip?patch_file=p2376472_8174_SOLARIS.zip&aru=1697372'
But there's a better way. Once you use their god-awful patch search
tool to figure out the patchset number you need (# 2376472 for
8.1.7.4), ftp them from updates.oracle.com, using your Metalink
username/password to log in. E.g., here are links to some of the
8.1.7.4 patchsets:
Linux,
Solaris 32 bit,
Solaris 64 bit.
