Crack initiation and deformation behaviors of oxide glasses belonging to different chemical systems were studied using the Vickers indentation test. The crack initiation resistance is chiefly governed by the extents to which densification and isochoric shear flow develop in a process zone beneath and within the contact area. Densification is favored in glasses with relatively small Poisson’s ratio (ν), whereas shear is favored at large ν. Glasses were ranged according to their resistance to the formation of corner cracks as follows: Resilient, for 0.15⩽ν⩽0.20; Semi-Resilient, for 0.20⩽ν⩽0.25; and Easily-Damaged for 0.25<ν<0.30. Radial-median cracks occur at low load (⩽50mN) in Easily-Damaged glasses, while cone cracks predominate in Resilient glasses under higher loads. A critical value for ν (∼0.22 depending on the Young’s modulus/hardness ratio) was identified, at which the intensity of the indentation stress field tends to vanish, preventing crack formation on loading, while the driving force on unloading remains very small.