Is VMware Open-Source?
VMware is a company that has released a number of virtualization and cloud storage software products. Though VMware produces a number of commercial software titles, the company is also a large supporter of the open source community. Because of this, some individuals may wonder whether all VMware products are open-source.
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VMware Products
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VMware software products provide virtual installation, virtual networking and cloud storage solutions to both home users and server administrators. The use of different VMware software titles allows users to install new operating systems in a virtual environment within their existing operating systems and to connect with others in a secure network environment across the Internet. VMware's cloud storage solutions create a means for data to be stored securely online so that it can be accessed from any computer the user has access.
Open-Source Software
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Open-source software is software that has its source code readily available for programmers to study and use as needed. Different licensing agreements exist within the open-source community, defining the amount of attribution required to use the code and what changes are permitted within the code. Supporters of open-source software often believe that by making their products open-source they can encourage the growth of the software industry as a whole. Others can learn from the work that has already been done and can contribute additional work to improve on existing projects.
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VMware Open-Source Support
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To encourage the growth of the open-source software movement, VMware collaborates with certain members of the open-source community to improve and expand their projects. The company also works with a number of Linux developers to ensure that their Linux distributions will work well when installed in VMware virtual environments to encourage a greater use of Linux in computing. VMware has also created an open-source version of one of their products, using the VMware Tools program as the basis for their Open Virtual Machine Tools project.
Open Virtual Machine Tools
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VMware's Open Virtual Machine Tools project encourages the creation of new virtualization software using the open-source version of VMware Tools as a basis. Developers can use the OVMT project source code as a starting point for creating their own virtual environments for use in Linux distributions or in other operating systems. VMware's "Virtual Appliance Marketplace" was created as an offshoot of the OVMT project, allowing developers to distribute their applications in a wide-reaching marketplace powered by VMware technology.
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