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

[Nate Duehr]

David L. Willson wrote:
> Nate,
> 
> I think you're taking devil's advocate to an extreme here.  It was not my intent to
> debate every economics issue, but just to hopefully prove that cost-benefits are not
> always as simple as the immediate points.

Heh... sorry.  A little hyper about this topic (overall Linux quality 
and a lot of "promises that never came true") lately.  Also not sleeping 
well due to other (family) reasons...

Mostly just spending too much time in e-mail... waiting on some hardware 
to arrive for a big project on a radio tower in Colorado Springs, and 
getting antsy... can't schedule other projects because this one needs to 
get done ASAP after the hardware arrives, but no good updates from the 
vendor on when it all will get here... just watching the loading dock at 
work and waiting...

> Let me re-state my main point, and then ask you yours.
> 
> My point is:
> 
> The Microsoft ecosystem inhibits competition by creating vendor lock-in (which ought to
> be called customer lock-in).  Lock-in is bad, even if the value is otherwise good,
> expecially when other products provide equal value without the lock-in.  The Free(Libre)
> Software ecosystem prevents lock-in, and promotes customer freedom.  Whenever I see a
> vendor pushing me to give up my freedom, I protest loudly, and wait for a response.  If
> there is no response, or negative response, I stop supporting the vendor.  It appears
> that the roadmap of Vmware products ends with desktop lock-in, and I'm protesting that.
>  I'm also encouraging other users and potential users of Vmware products to protest
> desktop lock-in.  The protest and the vendor switch, are justified, not by immediate
> cost-savings, but by long-term benefit to the industry we lead, and the customers that
> industry serves.

My point is only that Linux hasn't mounted a serious "threat" to MS on 
the desktop after years of cheerleading and promises that it will do so. 
   I understand this is because of "volunteer" support, but it also 
seems like it's a long-term cultural problem of disinterest in that type 
of goal.

THEREFORE... vendors dropping support for Linux desktop software, really 
isn't much of a surprise.  It's such a moving target, if I were a 
software CEO (and I'm far from it!) I wouldn't bother with it.

> The one example that you answered, that I care enough about to speak further on, is the
> "Chipotle or KFC, free-range or factory" issue:
> 
> I'm truly sorry that you feel that treating food-slave animals humanely is worthless.  I
> understand your perspective, I completely disagree with it, and I hope that further
> consideration will cause you to change your opinion.

I probably won't -- I worked on a pig farm for a couple of summers in 
high school, and most of the family were farmers in my grandfather's 
generation.  Food is food, not a pet.

Nate