blog It’s no secret that not everyone is a huge fan of VMware’s flash new licensing structure, with all of those extra clauses it contains, and now the backlash is beginning to hit Australia. Writes Sydney-based IT manager Matt Marlor at AuTechHeads:
“VMware, I know you like money. I know you’ve made a lot of it over the years. I’m sure your parent company, EMC, is thrilled at your financial performance and market capitalisation. I know if I owned your company, I’d be pretty happy. Virtualisation is a hot topic, and seems set to continue that way.
…
But VMware, we need to talk. You’ve made a really bad misstep, and I want to talk you through it.
You see, your announcement of vRAM licensing in vSphere 5 has really aggravated a lot of people – myself included. We don’t feel that your definition of “fair” actually includes customers anymore. Like I said, I don’t mind giving you money – and plenty of others feel that way too. But we do object to being gouged beyond all semblance of what’s reasonable.”
To be honest, the changes VMware have been making remind me a great deal of the way we used to think about Oracle, before a great deal of competition arrived throughout the past decade. Almost a monopoly over its market? Check. Software licensing per core? Check. Intense vendor lock-in with proprietary technologies that makes it impossible to switch to another vendor? Check.
Let’s face it, people: Everyone knew the day would come where VMware’s control of the virtualisation software market grew a little too strong and the company grew a little too greedy. Let’s hope the development pace picks up quickly enough so that some decent alternatives start nipping at its heels. And no, Microsoft Hyper-V — you’re not there yet. Come back when you’re off your training wheels ;)
Image credit: VMware
I like this, it is going to mean more development effort being put back in to xen, kernel virtualisation mode, and linux containers.
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