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VirtualBox 6.0 released

virtualbox.org

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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 released

#151

Post by rbanffy »

NullPrefix wrote: post #147
badsectoracula wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not understand, Virtual Box is free software, the versions distributed through most common Linux distributions does not contain any non-free components and the binaries on the site are released under the GPLv2. The extensions you mention are a separate download that you explicitly have to download and it is mentioned around the download that they are under a different license. How exactly are you trapped by usin…

Without the extension VirtualBox VMs are pretty much shit.

For tools like Vagrant, not at all. They are very useful if you want to attach USB devices directly to the VM, use the built-in webcam and so on, but I've used VirtualBox for years without installing the extension once.

Re: VirtualBox 6.0 released

#152

Post by wlesieutre »

lloeki wrote: post #48
robin_reala wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Linux only by the looks of things though.

The equivalent on macOS would leverage Hypervisor.framework, like xhyve or Veertu. https://github.com/machyve/xhyve https://veertu.com/anka-technology/#hypervisor

I gather that Veertu has (had?) a product called Veertu Desktop and it was open sourced, but they've wiped any mention of it from their website in favor of Anka Flow/Device/Build (commercial license only).

This looks like the source, found in a github repo of someone who works for Cisco. Maybe a former Veertu employee, or just someone who happened to fork a copy before Veertu deleted it? At any rate, I can't find an official Veertu repo anymore. https://github.com/tithomas1/vdhh

Last updates were 2 years ago and the installation instructions say "To Install Veertu Desktop on Mac, please visit veertu.com" which has deleted everything related to Veertu Desktop down to the knowledge base articles with release notes https://twitter.com/veertu_labs/status/818584467954495488

Seems like a pretty thoroughly dead product. Haven't heard of xhyve before, but between the two that's the one worth looking at.

Re: VirtualBox 6.0 released

#153

Post by torstenvl »

rbanffy wrote: post #151
NullPrefix wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without the extension VirtualBox VMs are pretty much shit.

For tools like Vagrant, not at all. They are very useful if you want to attach USB devices directly to the VM, use the built-in webcam and so on, but I've used VirtualBox for years without installing the extension once.

USB 2.0 and 3.0 are not fully supported without the extension pack.

Re: VirtualBox 6.0 released

#154

Post by regularfry »

wlesieutre wrote: post #152
lloeki wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The equivalent on macOS would leverage Hypervisor.framework, like xhyve or Veertu. https://github.com/machyve/xhyve https://veertu.com/anka-technology/#hypervisor

I gather that Veertu has (had?) a product called Veertu Desktop and it was open sourced, but they've wiped any mention of it from their website in favor of Anka Flow/Device/Build (commercial license only). This looks like the source, found in a github repo of someone who works for Cisco. Maybe a former Veertu employee, or just someone who happened to fork a copy before Veertu deleted it? At any rate, I can't find an…

Not only open sourced, but GPLv2'd. Ripe for forking, if one felt so inclined.

Re: VirtualBox 6.0 released

#155

Post by cm2187 »

jstarks wrote: post #143
cm2187 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it because you switched frequently from one adapter to another (like wifi to ethernet)? Otherwise I don't think I ever had any problem with the network configuration.

In Windows 10, we provide a NAT network option by default. This should work seamlessly even if you switch between WiFi and Ethernet. So even this problem should go away for most people now.

Didn't the NAT get pulled from hyper-V?

Re: VirtualBox 6.0 released

#156

Post by wlesieutre »

regularfry wrote: post #154
wlesieutre wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I gather that Veertu has (had?) a product called Veertu Desktop and it was open sourced, but they've wiped any mention of it from their website in favor of Anka Flow/Device/Build (commercial license only). This looks like the source, found in a github repo of someone who works for Cisco. Maybe a former Veertu employee, or just someone who happened to fork a copy before Veertu deleted it? At any rate, I can't find an…

Not only open sourced, but GPLv2'd. Ripe for forking, if one felt so inclined.

Sure but GPLv2 doesn't help you if all copies of the source code are gone, so be sure to grab a copy of that vdhh repo now in case tithomas1 removes his.

I imagine it's not in a working state on current versions of macOS, what with the security changes that Apple makes pretty much every year. But if someone wanted to try to get it going again they certainly could.

Re: VirtualBox 6.0 released

#157

Post by danmg »

organsnyder wrote: post #103
robert_foss wrote: post #10

Avoid VirtualBox and becoming trapped in the non-free & personal use only extension by using one of the very decent open source alternatives Boxes[1] or virt-manager[2] [1] https://wiki.gnome.org/action/show/Apps/Boxes [2] https://virt-manager.org/

Even worse: Oracle is going around and threatening to sue enterprises that show traffic to the extensions download site from their IP blocks. Happened recently at a previous employer of mine.

Solution: null route *.oracle.com.

Re: VirtualBox 6.0 released

#159

Post by torstenvl »

amyjess wrote: post #107
krylon wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I vaguely recall that this was discussed here on HN a while ago and somebody who had actually tried to buy the necessary license reported that Oracle would not sell them the license; IIRC, the sales person told them to "just use it, we don't care", or something along those lines. Which is very problematic, of course, without something in writing, and given Oracle's reputation.

If you live in a one-party state, secretly record them and then if Oracle threatens to sue, show them the recording and remind them of promissory estoppel. (IANAL!)

Not really promissory estoppel, which can enforce a promise if you detrimentally relied on it. It's not really to your detriment to use the product for free, so it's not a perfect fit (unless maybe your company hired someone to administer the VMs, specifically based on his VirtualBox experience?).

Some other possibilities would be the parol evidence rule (verbal exchanges between the contracting parties and their effect on contract interpretation) and possibly laches (no equitable remedy for folks who know about an infringement on their rights and do nothing about it... but money damages isn't an equity claim).

(IAAL but I don't practice in this area, so same grain of salt applies)

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