[Info-vax] Broadcom ends availablility of the free edition ESXi Hypervisor

[Dan Cross]

In article <uqfqqh$23o3b$1 at dont-email.me>,
Simon Clubley  <clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP> wrote:
>On 2024-02-12, Chris Townley <news at cct-net.co.uk> wrote:
>> On 12/02/2024 18:42, Simon Clubley wrote:
>>> For those of you using the free ESXi Hypervisor to run VMS on x86-64,
>>> be aware Broadcom have now removed the free edition download:
>>> 
>>> https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2107518?lang=en_US
>>> 
>>>  From that document:
>>> 
>>> |Along with the termination of perpetual licensing, Broadcom has also
>>> |decided to discontinue the Free ESXi Hypervisor, marking it as EOGA (End
>>> |of General Availability).
>>> 
>>
>> Surely nobody will be surprised...
>
>To be honest Chris, given their reputation, I am surprised it took them
>as long as it did. :-(
>
>I suspect that by the time Broadcom get through with this, people will
>regard IBM's mainframe licencing as a model of liberal licencing by
>comparison. :-)

It sure seems like they're trying to take a page out the IBM
license model for the mainframe.  z/VM on z/Architecture _may_
be the greatest virtualization technology ever created, but IBM
does not it make it easier to build developers for it.

>The industry rumours seem to indicate that Broadcom are willing to let
>most of their customers go, provided they can hold on to the top XX%
>of highly profitable customers and squeeze them for licence fees.

Yup.  As a colleague put it yesterday, "buy a company with
locked in customers and bleed the customers dry while cutting
costs to maximize quarterly profits."

>_If_ that is true, then someone should remind them there are alternatives,
>this is not z/OS (with its unique ecosystem), and that the next generation
>of people will become very familiar with those alternatives.

Or don't remind them and just move to those alternatives.  We'll
sell you a computer!  :-D

>IOW, _if_ the rumours are true, then this would appear to be a short-term
>approach, and they should be reminded exactly why (for example) Linux came
>to crush the commercial Unix ecosystem.

Short term indeed, but pretty typical.

	- Dan C.