VMware to go open source? Not.

Someone asked VMware's chief about open source, and he made a predictable answer. Does that mean the company is going to open source its hypervisor?

"VMware's hypervisor to go open source?" said NetworkWorld. Apparently VMware boss Paul Maritz had been asked about open source at a press conference. "We have thought about whether we want to open source ESX,", he said, and went on to praise the way the open source model gets participation.

That's a long way from any move to open source VMware's crown jewels, and before we extrapolate anything, let's remember where Maritz is coming from (Microsoft) and what VMware is up to (positioning and extending its ESX as the uber-OS for data centres).

VMware is the incumbent here. It's offering the basics of its product for free. It it has some pretty significant open source projects and products.

But I don't think it's about to open source the crown jewels. From the rest of the story, it sounds like the company is unwilling to welcome any other hypervisor into its world, so I don't see it opening up its code.