[dundee] VMWare & Linux

[gordon dunlop]

VMWare is used by 55% of companies that use virtualisation technologies, 
and is soaring in share price where everyone wants to have a piece of 
it. people are remarking how it is similar to Linux:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/16/vmware_derived_from_linux/

A recent statement by the company says the a new hypervisor will only be 
32MB instead of 11 GB:

http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/ZODvC0Fip8W0Au/VMware-Hypervisor-Takes-Up-Residence-in-New-Servers.xhtml

What does this remind me of (from my Master's dissertation), a 
para-virtualised hypervisor similar to Xen to get near native 
performance where it is just a Linux kernel with modifications. In the 
case of Xen where the modifications or extensions are being integrated 
into the Linux kernel, this seems to me that VMWare are using the Linux 
kernel and modifying it for propriety uses and not returning the code. 
In the case of XenSource which charges for their service to large 
companies and is now sold to Citrix, they are only providing management 
services add-ons to the original source code (which they have the 
copyright). Now here is the rub, if VMWare took the Linux kernel and 
pretended to everyone that it was not Linux, modified the code and not 
returned any anything would they be in breach of the GPL? I am not a 
lawyer, patents and copyright can confuse  the vast majority of ordinary 
mortals, but I will wait and see what comes out of all this. Why the 
silence from VMWare?, does it matter?, does this show that Linux is the 
best to use in the virtualisation world?

Gordon