I should clarify my opinion on this (and it's just my opinion). The virtualization marketspace is large and there are many areas to grow into. Parallels is targetting certain users and use cases. VMware is targetting certain users and use cases. Xen is targetting some. QEMU. Virtual Server. They all have users and are being used for different things. I think Parallels is playing things smart by getting into the Mac market early and targetting the users there with a low priced product, and that may secure a position for them there. But it's not at a point where I feel VMware has to fear it. Keep the company in mind, yes. But "VMware fears Parallels in a big way" is a bold statement to make:)
(My opinion is my own, and not necessarily that of VMware.)
As one of the developers of both VMware Server 1.0 and Workstation 5.x, let me clear this up.
(Also, this blog entry might help with a few common misconceptions)
VMware Server, while similar in appearance and sharing much of the same functionality as Workstation, is a completely different product with a different use case and target audience. It is the successor to GSX, and is for people who want to set up, well, servers! The key feature that Server has that Workstation does not is remoting, where you run a server on a computer and connect to it from a separate computer via a remote console or web interface. The VMs can start up with the computer, shut down with it, and can be accessed by multiple users. The VMs also don't require an X installation to run the VMs, nor does it require any sort of UI to be running for the VM to run.
Workstation has a number of features that Server does not have. Among other differences, it supports multiple snapshots, teams of VMs (where multiple VMs can start up/shutdown together, can be in their own special network with custom NIC speeds and packet loss), and 3D acceleration in the guest (currently experimental, and requires DirectX in the guest for now). We have a lot in the works for the product, and the gap will widen.
The one difference that people seem to for some reason get upset over is the price. Workstation costs $189, while Server is free. People have asked me why they should get Workstation if Server is free. The answer is that you should get Workstation if it has the features you want. If Server is better suited to your requirements or budget, go ahead and get that. We're not trying to force you into buying Workstation, and we're in no way crippling the VMs. A VM made in Server should work in Workstation and Player just fine. Likewise, a VM made in Workstation should work in Server or Player.
Workstation is not somehow "better" than Server just because it costs more. It's a different product. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Yes, Server is free while Workstation is not, and part of this is because that's where mid-level server virtualization products were heading. Microsoft was considerably lowering the price on Virtual Server in an effort to hurt GSX sales. Xen, while not a huge contender in the enterprise yet, is free and good work is being done on it. Workstation, however, is unique enough in its dev/test features and still has value that we and our customers still feel is worth something. And you'll see that value continue to grow over time, just as you will with our other products.
I hope that helped you understand why we're still charging for Workstation while Server is free. Choose whichever product you like: Player, Server, Workstation, ACE, ESX.. They're all fine choices, and they all offer solutions to different problems. It's not just about virtualization itself anymore. It's about what you can build on top of it.
(Opinions expressed here are my own and are not necessarily representative of VMware, yada yada.)
As one of the developers of VMware Server, I can tell you that it *will* be free when out of beta. This is a free product. We're only making money off of optional support contracts.
I doubt that legit VMware reps would have made a claim otherwise, but if so, they either misspoke or were given incorrect information.
Not to mention that we've taken some valuable widgets from our UI and released them under the MIT license at view.sf.net. And the drivers we've put in the xorg tree. And the numerous patches we've supplied to open source projects like gtk and gtkmm.
There are many developers at VMware that come straight from the open source community. Myself, a Galeon developer, Tomboy developer, VLC developer, xchat-gnome developer, etc. This contest benefits everybody, and we're not doing it to steal people's work. It's a shame people think that.
Nope, no DRM. The trial is uncrippled. It just expires after a while, that's all, but the VM does not. You're free to use the trial to create a VM for use in the Player.
Okay now this is just stupid. I know I'm going to be marked as a troll for this, but come on! Microsoft asked a guy interview questions. Oh the horror. It's almost as if it were... a job interview! Like it was.
This is what companies do, people. You don't just hand people a job. It doesn't matter who they are. They're job interviews. They didn't call him up and say, "We want to give you this job," they called him up and said, "We want you to interview for this job." There's a difference.
This is truly pathetic when we bash the "evil empire" for quizzing a job applicant. Everybody does it. Let's get some real news on here.
Our company is actually handing out tickets next week to all the employees, and has reserved two theaters. This is for opening day. I love where I work.:)
We didn't write this, despite Slashdot's very screwed-up information about all this.
You're not the only person hitting that MSN bug, but it's something that not a lot of people (and no developer, as far as I know) has been able to hit. We're looking into it.
Non-conformist? Perhaps. How would you define a 1.0 release? How can we? Development on this program can never end, and what makes a 1.0 release is a matter of opinion only. If we did release a 1.0, we'd hear from so many people how it wasn't ready for one. There's no reason to. If people don't use gaim because of it, that's fine. We have plenty of people who do use it, but we're not in it for the popularity contest stuff. We're in it because we want a good IM client to use. Scratching an itch.
We won't have a 1.0 release. Our version number is just the previous number + 1, so a 1.0 just isn't going to happen:) Sorry. Remember though that a stable, full-featured program doesn't have to be labeled 1.0.
Actually, NSS/NSPR *or* GNUTLS work just fine. We offer a choice. The reviewer just didn't really install things right, and I imagine was a bit impatient. This was a Gaim issue. It never should have been brought up in a Fedora review. We will be releasing Fedora RPMs of Gaim for 0.73 anyway. The reviewer can be patient;)
Okay everyone, I've seen a lot of misconceptions and misinformation once again on Slashdot about this whole situation.
Here's the deal.
MSNP7 was discontinued. NOT MSNP8! This was done because MSNP7 and lower used an MD5 challenge in order to authenticate with the servers. MSNP8 and above use SSL.
Now, Gaim DOES work with the new protocol, and has for about four versions. All you need to do is install the SSL libraries. It's your choice of either Mozilla NSS or GNUTLS. Information on all of this is found at our FAQ. The current version of Gaim will tell you that the protocol plugin for MSN could not load, if you don't have SSL. The next version will load, but tell you to grab the SSL libraries, if it can't find them. That should be slightly more helpful..
It's really not a big deal, like I tried saying last time. They're not kicking off third party clients. They're discontinuing a less secure authentication method. Don't panick unless we do;)
We helped Trillian awhile back connect to Yahoo when they changed the protocol. They're returning the favor. We have a good relationship with the Trillian people.
Really, this is for us to worry about. We're pretty good at staying up to date. Remember, Gaim was the first client to even support the new Yahoo protocol, before any other 3rd party client in existence (including Trillian), and we did that a week or so before it rolled out anywhere but in India.
"Upgrading" is as simple as changing a version string. We already have it updated in Gaim 0.69. This was a no-brainer easy-to-fix thing, as was MSN.
If any Slashdot staff are watching, please, please refrain from posting articles related to IM unless you consult someone who knows what's going on. Too many trollish comments occur, and we get too many questions in Gaim support, all pointing at Slashdot as their source for the inaccurate information as to what's happening in IM.
(Now I'll be marked as a troll, but it's hurting us IM developers more than it's helping, so I'm just going to post it anyway.)
LinuxFund.org has been kind enough to supply two of my projects (GNUpdate and Gaim for Qtopia) with funding and hardware. It may not directly relate to your question, since it sounds like you already have someone that may be giving you the money, but you can look at their policies and requirements, and request more information.
Gaim is available for Windows, Linux, and the Sharp Zaurus. It's not hard to download and use. But yes, I agree with your point. Education is good, though.
I have said all along that it's Microsoft's servers, and they can do what they wish. However, they are making a point to tell people that they are willing to work with all third party clients to connect. They just want to formalize an agreement between MSN and the clients. This may not be a bad thing at all, depending. It may also be a really bad thing. We just don't know yet, and we have th same information everybody else does.
As usual, the majority of the users on Slashdot decided to react before researching. Guys, if you don't have MSN support down the road, then it's gone. People can switch clients. It's really not a big deal, especially with clients like Gaim, Trillian, and Fire available. Leave the worrying and stuff to us. We will be doing all we can to keep MSN support in, but really, it's just a protocol. One I happen to really like, but it's just a protocol. Don't yell at Microsoft for this. They have every right to make this decision, and it may not even be a bad one.
Slashdot Mirror
I should clarify my opinion on this (and it's just my opinion). The virtualization marketspace is large and there are many areas to grow into. Parallels is targetting certain users and use cases. VMware is targetting certain users and use cases. Xen is targetting some. QEMU. Virtual Server. They all have users and are being used for different things. I think Parallels is playing things smart by getting into the Mac market early and targetting the users there with a low priced product, and that may secure a position for them there. But it's not at a point where I feel VMware has to fear it. Keep the company in mind, yes. But "VMware fears Parallels in a big way" is a bold statement to make :)
(My opinion is my own, and not necessarily that of VMware.)
Oh? How do you figure? I don't think any of us have lost any sleep over Parallels yet.
As one of the developers of both VMware Server 1.0 and Workstation 5.x, let me clear this up.
(Also, this blog entry might help with a few common misconceptions)
VMware Server, while similar in appearance and sharing much of the same functionality as Workstation, is a completely different product with a different use case and target audience. It is the successor to GSX, and is for people who want to set up, well, servers! The key feature that Server has that Workstation does not is remoting, where you run a server on a computer and connect to it from a separate computer via a remote console or web interface. The VMs can start up with the computer, shut down with it, and can be accessed by multiple users. The VMs also don't require an X installation to run the VMs, nor does it require any sort of UI to be running for the VM to run.
Workstation has a number of features that Server does not have. Among other differences, it supports multiple snapshots, teams of VMs (where multiple VMs can start up/shutdown together, can be in their own special network with custom NIC speeds and packet loss), and 3D acceleration in the guest (currently experimental, and requires DirectX in the guest for now). We have a lot in the works for the product, and the gap will widen.
The one difference that people seem to for some reason get upset over is the price. Workstation costs $189, while Server is free. People have asked me why they should get Workstation if Server is free. The answer is that you should get Workstation if it has the features you want. If Server is better suited to your requirements or budget, go ahead and get that. We're not trying to force you into buying Workstation, and we're in no way crippling the VMs. A VM made in Server should work in Workstation and Player just fine. Likewise, a VM made in Workstation should work in Server or Player.
Workstation is not somehow "better" than Server just because it costs more. It's a different product. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Yes, Server is free while Workstation is not, and part of this is because that's where mid-level server virtualization products were heading. Microsoft was considerably lowering the price on Virtual Server in an effort to hurt GSX sales. Xen, while not a huge contender in the enterprise yet, is free and good work is being done on it. Workstation, however, is unique enough in its dev/test features and still has value that we and our customers still feel is worth something. And you'll see that value continue to grow over time, just as you will with our other products.
I hope that helped you understand why we're still charging for Workstation while Server is free. Choose whichever product you like: Player, Server, Workstation, ACE, ESX.. They're all fine choices, and they all offer solutions to different problems. It's not just about virtualization itself anymore. It's about what you can build on top of it.
(Opinions expressed here are my own and are not necessarily representative of VMware, yada yada.)
As one of the developers of VMware Server, I can tell you that it *will* be free when out of beta. This is a free product. We're only making money off of optional support contracts.
I doubt that legit VMware reps would have made a claim otherwise, but if so, they either misspoke or were given incorrect information.
Not to mention that we've taken some valuable widgets from our UI and released them under the MIT license at view.sf.net. And the drivers we've put in the xorg tree. And the numerous patches we've supplied to open source projects like gtk and gtkmm.
There are many developers at VMware that come straight from the open source community. Myself, a Galeon developer, Tomboy developer, VLC developer, xchat-gnome developer, etc. This contest benefits everybody, and we're not doing it to steal people's work. It's a shame people think that.
Nope, no DRM. The trial is uncrippled. It just expires after a while, that's all, but the VM does not. You're free to use the trial to create a VM for use in the Player.
Okay now this is just stupid. I know I'm going to be marked as a troll for this, but come on! Microsoft asked a guy interview questions. Oh the horror. It's almost as if it were... a job interview! Like it was.
This is what companies do, people. You don't just hand people a job. It doesn't matter who they are. They're job interviews. They didn't call him up and say, "We want to give you this job," they called him up and said, "We want you to interview for this job." There's a difference.
This is truly pathetic when we bash the "evil empire" for quizzing a job applicant. Everybody does it. Let's get some real news on here.
Our company is actually handing out tickets next week to all the employees, and has reserved two theaters. This is for opening day. I love where I work. :)
We didn't write this, despite Slashdot's very screwed-up information about all this.
You're not the only person hitting that MSN bug, but it's something that not a lot of people (and no developer, as far as I know) has been able to hit. We're looking into it.
Non-conformist? Perhaps. How would you define a 1.0 release? How can we? Development on this program can never end, and what makes a 1.0 release is a matter of opinion only. If we did release a 1.0, we'd hear from so many people how it wasn't ready for one. There's no reason to. If people don't use gaim because of it, that's fine. We have plenty of people who do use it, but we're not in it for the popularity contest stuff. We're in it because we want a good IM client to use. Scratching an itch.
That's the current policy.
We won't have a 1.0 release. Our version number is just the previous number + 1, so a 1.0 just isn't going to happen :) Sorry. Remember though that a stable, full-featured program doesn't have to be labeled 1.0.
Actually, NSS/NSPR *or* GNUTLS work just fine. We offer a choice. The reviewer just didn't really install things right, and I imagine was a bit impatient. This was a Gaim issue. It never should have been brought up in a Fedora review. We will be releasing Fedora RPMs of Gaim for 0.73 anyway. The reviewer can be patient ;)
This is why it's good to ask. We don't bite.
Okay everyone, I've seen a lot of misconceptions and misinformation once again on Slashdot about this whole situation.
;)
Here's the deal.
MSNP7 was discontinued. NOT MSNP8! This was done because MSNP7 and lower used an MD5 challenge in order to authenticate with the servers. MSNP8 and above use SSL.
Now, Gaim DOES work with the new protocol, and has for about four versions. All you need to do is install the SSL libraries. It's your choice of either Mozilla NSS or GNUTLS. Information on all of this is found at our FAQ. The current version of Gaim will tell you that the protocol plugin for MSN could not load, if you don't have SSL. The next version will load, but tell you to grab the SSL libraries, if it can't find them. That should be slightly more helpful..
It's really not a big deal, like I tried saying last time. They're not kicking off third party clients. They're discontinuing a less secure authentication method. Don't panick unless we do
You know what they say about "assume."
We helped Trillian awhile back connect to Yahoo when they changed the protocol. They're returning the favor. We have a good relationship with the Trillian people.
Really, this is for us to worry about. We're pretty good at staying up to date. Remember, Gaim was the first client to even support the new Yahoo protocol, before any other 3rd party client in existence (including Trillian), and we did that a week or so before it rolled out anywhere but in India.
I should have said 0.69cvs, not 0.69. Gaim 0.69 will be out when we can get it out, but it'll be there before the apparent cut-off date.
Yes, it's in CVS only, but 0.69 will be released as soon as we can. You don't want it in its current state until a couple of bugs are fixed.
We had it updated within hours of the message occurring. It was as simple as changing the version number being sent. No big deal.
"Upgrading" is as simple as changing a version string. We already have it updated in Gaim 0.69. This was a no-brainer easy-to-fix thing, as was MSN.
If any Slashdot staff are watching, please, please refrain from posting articles related to IM unless you consult someone who knows what's going on. Too many trollish comments occur, and we get too many questions in Gaim support, all pointing at Slashdot as their source for the inaccurate information as to what's happening in IM.
(Now I'll be marked as a troll, but it's hurting us IM developers more than it's helping, so I'm just going to post it anyway.)
LinuxFund.org has been kind enough to supply two of my projects (GNUpdate and Gaim for Qtopia) with funding and hardware. It may not directly relate to your question, since it sounds like you already have someone that may be giving you the money, but you can look at their policies and requirements, and request more information.
http://messenger.msn.com/partners/certification
There's also a couple of quotes from the guys over at Microsoft about it, but I don't have the URL off-hand.
Post a good patch that won't cause any problems, and we'll look at it. Don't complain until you're willing to contribute positively.
Gaim is available for Windows, Linux, and the Sharp Zaurus. It's not hard to download and use. But yes, I agree with your point. Education is good, though.
I will post an update later clarifying this.
I have said all along that it's Microsoft's servers, and they can do what they wish. However, they are making a point to tell people that they are willing to work with all third party clients to connect. They just want to formalize an agreement between MSN and the clients. This may not be a bad thing at all, depending. It may also be a really bad thing. We just don't know yet, and we have th same information everybody else does.
As usual, the majority of the users on Slashdot decided to react before researching. Guys, if you don't have MSN support down the road, then it's gone. People can switch clients. It's really not a big deal, especially with clients like Gaim, Trillian, and Fire available. Leave the worrying and stuff to us. We will be doing all we can to keep MSN support in, but really, it's just a protocol. One I happen to really like, but it's just a protocol. Don't yell at Microsoft for this. They have every right to make this decision, and it may not even be a bad one.