Does this licensing problem affect the Spring Framework as well?
Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
21–30 of 85 posts
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have heard/read that should be audited by Microsoft or any of the other large software houses that do that, they don't care for any certificate of authenticity or license keys, or anything. They want to see a valid purchase order for the SKU of the license. So, I think using a keygen might raise some red flags if the auditing software reports back the key even if it's the same SKU you paid for (and it had better be…
I've experienced multiple MSFT compliance audits at small business Customers in the 2004-2020 timeframe. MSFT only ever cared about reconciling what was in use with what was paid-for. I've been asked for photos of OEM key stickers attached to hardware but never asked to retrieve keys from installed software. I assume keys are another facet of keeping specific details around licenses vague enough that there's always r…
My experience was similar at a medium size business. We had reusable keys that we used as needed. Once a year, we would run their audit tool and pay the difference.
I never got the impression they cared where the keys came from. We knew exactly when they were coming every year. They were easy to deal with and I don’t recall ever having any issues.
We also had an ELA with VMware and they were awful. We only stuck with them because the software fulfilled a need. They treat you like dirt during the sale and every renewal. In between, they act as if they’re the ones doing you a favor by allowing you to be a customer. The support was terrible.
But oddly enough, they always gave us more licenses than we paid for. Every time, they would throw in products we didn’t purchase and weren’t cheap about it either. It was always like 100+ seats and one time it was 1000.
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not much of shit show, but the speculation back then what that BRCM will split VMware into pieces, keep the most profitable parts and milk them as much as possible. So far two things happened: - a lot of people were laid off - VMware will turn into a subscription service, no more perpetual licenses on which you can bolt a support contract for updates.
So… what are the alternatives?
For everything VDI, take a look at Parallels RAS[1] or Parallels Secure Workspace[2]. For the hypervisors and cloud part, probably Nutanix[3].
[1] https://www.parallels.com/products/ras/remote-application-se...
[2] https://www.parallels.com/products/psw/
[3] https://www.nutanix.com/uk/products/nutanix-cloud-infrastruc...
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#24I do recall several HN commenters called it back them when it was announced Broadcom would take over and cause a shit show.
Not much of shit show, but the speculation back then what that BRCM will split VMware into pieces, keep the most profitable parts and milk them as much as possible. So far two things happened: - a lot of people were laid off - VMware will turn into a subscription service, no more perpetual licenses on which you can bolt a support contract for updates.
They've also said they're trying to spin off the EUC element (i.e. Workspace One, Horizon and associated bits). (Potentially Carbon Black may be up for and exit as well).
Link: https://blogs.vmware.com/euc/2023/12/an-exciting-new-era-for...
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#25You can find working vSphere keygens on some sketchy site. I encourage anyone in a tough spot to use one. You paid for the product, fuck them.
I have long since believed this to be legal, though I'd like to understand if it is. Effectively: Software mechanisms are not the litmus of legality, as if you buy a working key, it may not be legal to use since there are country restrictions. So I would surmise the opposite stance: if you have a license sitting on a shelf and you "assign" it to a system; using a keygen at that point is fine, since you do own a licen…
It’s only a problem if you want to maintain support. If you’re ready to sever your Broadcom relationship, keygen away. I am not a lawyer, and am probably wrong.
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've experienced multiple MSFT compliance audits at small business Customers in the 2004-2020 timeframe. MSFT only ever cared about reconciling what was in use with what was paid-for. I've been asked for photos of OEM key stickers attached to hardware but never asked to retrieve keys from installed software. I assume keys are another facet of keeping specific details around licenses vague enough that there's always r…
My experience was similar at a medium size business. We had reusable keys that we used as needed. Once a year, we would run their audit tool and pay the difference. I never got the impression they cared where the keys came from. We knew exactly when they were coming every year. They were easy to deal with and I don’t recall ever having any issues. We also had an ELA with VMware and they were awful. We only stuck with…
I worked at enterprise software companies, and I have seen them usually give 25% “buffer” where software keys restrict usage to account for growth, with a reconciliation at renewal.
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#27You can find working vSphere keygens on some sketchy site. I encourage anyone in a tough spot to use one. You paid for the product, fuck them.
I have long since believed this to be legal, though I'd like to understand if it is. Effectively: Software mechanisms are not the litmus of legality, as if you buy a working key, it may not be legal to use since there are country restrictions. So I would surmise the opposite stance: if you have a license sitting on a shelf and you "assign" it to a system; using a keygen at that point is fine, since you do own a licen…
I thing the biggest risk with this comes from the DMCA, a stupidly heavy-handed piece of legislation that doesn't care at all about the consumers.
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#28It's embarrassing how poorly Broadcom have rushed into throwing the baby out with the bathwater for no reason. They could have taken a slower approach instead of doing everything as soon as the deal officially closed... I hope they lose as much business as possible over this, everyone should be looking into alternatives because they're such a shitshow.
Yeah, I don't get why they just did the Elon thing of slash and burn without any plan. I get that they want to upend the business model, focus on whatever end of the market, etc. Why not do that in a planned out, measured way? Why confirm literally every concern people had when the acquisition was announced? Why get yourself into what will obviously be a ton of lawsuits over people who can't use the product they already paid for?
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#29Another story on why vendor lock in is bad and you should only build your business on the top of open source products.
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not much of shit show, but the speculation back then what that BRCM will split VMware into pieces, keep the most profitable parts and milk them as much as possible. So far two things happened: - a lot of people were laid off - VMware will turn into a subscription service, no more perpetual licenses on which you can bolt a support contract for updates.
So… what are the alternatives?
if you're large enough (i.e. you have the compute demand and the staff to justify the expense for the latter), OpenStack - you should be able to keep most of your hardware, OpenStack supports everyone and their dog, which is what makes the "find capable operations staff" and "get it running" parts so much more difficult.
Desktop? Learn to live with Oracle's VirtualBox and pray you never ever get audited for the guest toolkit acceleration.
Small home lab? Hand-roll QEMU-KVM.