What's the point?
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| r_a_trip Apr 10, 2009 4:10 AM EDT |
Apart from the fact that VirtualBox is feature incomplete in the OSE edition (No USB, no direct folder access), what will Vbox integration do for Ubuntu? Seamless Windows integration? Facilitating what? Continuing dependence on an insecure proprietary OS and the stalwart Photoshop, Office 2003/2007, IE6/7/8, MSN/Live Messenger, etc. Using Linux/Ubuntu as a runtime to just keep using Windows doesn't make sense. Keep VBox an option for those who know what it is and want it. Don't turn a desktop Linux distribution into a Windows launcher, by making it dead easy (read no thinking required) to run a Windows VM. I can see the postings on the net already. "Hey, Ubuntu rocks! You can just insert your Windows CD and then you can run all your Windows programs on Linux! How cool is that?!" Never mind that Joe and Jane are still essentially Windows users who just inserted Linux as an unused, resource eating layer between Windows and the hardware without even knowing it. If Canonical wants to do something useful relating to Windows programs, they could help the Wine project to get their Win32 subsystem up to snuff. Although I believe that Wine is already getting too successful at being Windows, seeing that some malware doesn't need modification or extra steps to infect the Wine layer. |
| Sander_Marechal Apr 10, 2009 4:20 AM EDT |
Wine still has many, many problems. Many applications do eventually work but require significant black magic and waving of dead chickens before they will install or run. |
| bigg Apr 10, 2009 7:46 AM EDT |
I didn't read the article, because it's a dumb idea. Who's going to include a virtualization program by default that, frankly, is no good. The OSE is intentionally crippled. It doesn't even allow the use of USB. It's quite a technical undertaking to set up file sharing. Why would Ubuntu want to put up with the headache of supporting that? |
| tuxtom Apr 10, 2009 8:35 AM EDT |
A Windows VM is a necessity for anyone doing web development. That includes a lot of folks...a lot of folks. Would it be better for them purchase dedicated Windows systems for the task? |
| bigg Apr 10, 2009 8:51 AM EDT |
Just because Ubuntu doesn't include Virtualbox by default, that doesn't mean you can't run Virtualbox, it means Ubuntu is not taking responsibility for the shortcomings. IMO you should either run the closed version or not run it at all. I do not see how (maybe I'm wrong) anyone can run an OS in this day and age without access to USB. |
| azerthoth Apr 10, 2009 11:20 AM EDT |
oh it can be done if your sneaky enough, put your /media folder and/or /mnt folder (depending on how you do your USB mounting) and export as NFS, then your VM has access to any files you drop on there. Printers, scanners, and such can also be handled as network mounts. Still the idea is not even all that new, I know of a distro that includes vbox by default already. However if people keep coming up with these "it would be cool if ... " ideas for adding to Ubuntu, it would rapidly outstrip a DVD instead of a CD. |
| bigg Apr 10, 2009 2:07 PM EDT |
@azerthoth I didn't think about NFS. I may have to try that. |
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