[clue-talk] Vmware ESX / VI, WTF?

[Nate Duehr]

David L. Willson wrote:
> Why does Vmware ESX (aka Virtual Infrastructure) have no <adjective> Linux client?  I
> thought that the point of making Vmware Server "free" was to draw folks into the fold,
> and get them up to ESX / VI when function appropriate.  With no management interface
> available for my computer, unless I switch to Windows, it looks like ESX will never be
> function appropriate for me.

Think about the larger customers that really float VMWare's business 
boat...

I seriously doubt VMWare's out to "draw anyone into the fold" of 
anything other than managing a pile of servers of all varieties with 
their products.

Anyone managing that many servers is going to have all the major OS 
flavors already running on various machines, or even VMWare itself, and 
isn't going to be concerned about where they run the management consoles 
from.  Pragmatically the only place VMWare puts themselves in any kind 
of business danger by not supporting Linux to control VI, is HUGE 
linux-only shops.

How many of those are out there?  You KNOW they've already done that 
math.  How many wouldn't just go drop $100 for a copy of Windows to get 
work done?  Not many... only the "religious few".

> I'm so shocked and pissed off at Vmware...  I'm actually thinking about using something
> else for virtualization, for the first time ever.  I bought a box specifically to run
> ESX, and now I find out I can't interface with it without using Windows.  This is a ...
>  huge disappointment, and for me, a no-further-negotiation-needed show-stopper.

Kinda silly to get emotional over the software business... not like this 
kinda stuff hasn't been going on for 20+ years now.  If Linux could get 
its act together and get more than single-digit numbers on the desktop, 
businesses that make desktop software might care.

That's the rub... going forward, Linux has to offer something better or 
stay marginalized.  Mark Shuttleworth seems to be the only "community" 
person with any business sense.  There was a quote from him in this 
month's Linux Journal saying EXACTLY what he's targeting... a desktop 
that rivals the "gold standard" for usability... Mac OSX.  His words, 
not mine.

> 1. I'm glad I can use the hardware I bought for something else now.
> 2. If I'd put money and time into ~buying~ this, like for a ~client~... If there were
> serious work involved in getting away from it...  I'd be so mad, I'd be spitting on
> myself.  Ugh, too late.

Anyone with more than four or five servers to manage is going to be a 
lot more pragmatic, and find a $99 copy of XP Home and "get on with it", 
because they have work to do.

> If there's anyone out there with Vmware's ear, please tell them:  I don't want to find a
> Windows mandate at the end of your road.  It's like ---  Nevermind what it's like.  I
> don't want to run Windows and making me run Windows is sure to ruin an otherwise good
> relationship.  Let me run Linux or lose me.  I won't use anything that creates vendor
> lock-in, and Windows only comes from one vendor.  Along with me, you'll lose my clients,
> because they generally follow my lead, and they ~are~ where all the money comes from.

If it sells, they'll make it.  But in this case, they'll probably lose 
you as a customer.  Probably a calculated risk on their part.  Where 
does their paycheck come from?

Normal business.  Free market.  All that jazz.

Give 'em an economic reason to support Linux desktops, and they will, 
but you'll have to be a shop making them a LOT more than one server 
managed under their system to have that kind of clout.

I doubt losing you by yourself will be enough to swing them over to 
wanting to manage the costs of re-writing the client cross-platform.

This isn't exactly news either...

<http://servervirtualization.blogs.techtarget.com/2008/05/16/still-no-linux-vmware-vi-client/>

That was posted in May of '08.  A quarter has gone by and VMWare's 
earnings haven't dropped -- so the larger Linux-only shops must have 
just loaded Windows and moved on.  There's no sign that VMWare's 
earnings numbers were hurt by this.

Ultimately, that's going to be the only thing that will "swing" their 
opinion, since the UI is written in .Net and re-writing it for 
cross-platform support probably isn't even in the cards for them.

Nate