VM Linux

VM Linux

There are three computers under my desk at work. We have many networks and many different needs. This is normal in many companies. I dream of a day when we can consolidate things down to one machine, even a laptop, and run virtual machines for our other needs.

Here is what I envision. We set up a windows system for all the users who need a computer. Let's face it, people want to use windows. Those who need a local Linux box will run in a virtual machine. We will have real Linux boxes for servers and test machines in the labs. We need to test hardware and crash things on real systems.

You could keep a running system on your hard drive and never use it. Make a copy and experiment. Screwed it up? Blow it away and make another copy. If you get something working that other people need, make a copy and let them run it.

What things do we do on our local Linux boxes that we could not do on a virtual machine? Hardware comes to mind. Mostly, we build software and do some development on our local Linux boxes. The hardware is in a server.

It seems to me that we do a great deal of breaking things. We try to keep linux running smoothly on our boxes in order to do email and connect to the network. Then we break it by trying to upgrade Python. Or, type [>$ sudo rm -rf /] and for some reason hit the entry key before hitting the tab key to complete the path. That command prompt can be an unforgiving motherfucker some days.

So, what open source virtual machine creation software works on both Linux and Windows?

VirtualBox is supposedly open source. it is by Oracle. I've tried to use it in the past with some luck. I believe it is based on QEMU. Not sure. It does run on both Windows and Linux. It looks like the same data files can go back and forth.

There are three computers under my desk at work. We have many networks and many different needs. This is normal in many companies. I dream of a day when we can consolidate things down to one machine, even a laptop, and run virtual machines for our other needs.

Here is what I envision. We set up a windows system for all the users who need a computer. Let's face it, people want to use windows. Those who need a local Linux box will run in a virtual machine. We will have real Linux boxes for servers and test machines in the labs. We need to test hardware and crash things on real systems.

You could keep a running system on your hard drive and never use it. Make a copy and experiment. Screwed it up? Blow it away and make another copy. If you get something working that other people need, make a copy and let them run it.

What things do we do on our local Linux boxes that we could not do on a virtual machine? Hardware comes to mind. Mostly, we build software and do some development on our local Linux boxes. The hardware is in a server.

It seems to me that we do a great deal of breaking things. We try to keep linux running smoothly on our boxes in order to do email and connect to the network. Then we break it by trying to upgrade Python. Or, type [>$ sudo rm -rf /] and for some reason hit the entry key before hitting the tab key to complete the path. That command prompt can be an unforgiving motherfucker some days.

So, what open source virtual machine creation software works on both Linux and Windows?

VirtualBox is supposedly open source. it is by Oracle. I've tried to use it in the past with some luck. I believe it is based on QEMU. Not sure. It does run on both Windows and Linux. It looks like the same data files can go back and forth.