OSNews > Thread > "smells of coercion" by libray

Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 12th Sep 2007 19:56 UTC, submitted by SEJeff

Today, VMware announced that it has released a majority of its VMware Tools as open source software (GPLv2), part of the project Open Virtual Machine Tools. "The Open Virtual Machine Tools (open-vm-tools) are the open source implementation of VMware Tools. They are a set of guest operating system virtualization components that enhance performance and user experience of virtual machines."

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smells of coercion

by libray on Wed 12th Sep 2007 21:02 UTC

Member since:
2005-08-27

It has been hypothesized that VMware was using code that required them to contribute the source in an open manner. Or is VMware doing this of their own accord?

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RE: smells of coercion

by mkools on Wed 12th Sep 2007 21:11 in reply to "smells of coercion"

Member since:
2005-10-11

Wheither they are 'forced' to do it or do it voluntary doesn't really matter it's good news either way.

I think this is just strategy to keep the focus on VMWare and not on the competition, Sun like move.

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RE: smells of coercion

by alexandru_lz on Wed 12th Sep 2007 21:13 in reply to "smells of coercion"

Member since:
2007-02-11

You are free to diff the code, I'm sure you'll find a few matching variable names and a few commas. These are usually enough for Cease and Desist letters, I can't wait to see one of these mentioning GPL.

Seriously, the alleged breaking of the GPL didn't have anything to do with VMware Tools, which are, essentially, drivers.

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