Re: VMWare player: why no package?

[Cassiano Bertol Leal <cassianoleal@gmail.com>]

Carl Fink wrote:
> On Tue, Jan 01, 2008 at 09:52:36PM -0500, Andrew Malcolmson wrote:
> > On Tue, 1 Jan 2008 20:46:47 -0500, "Carl Fink" <carl@finknetwork.com>
> > said:
> > > VMWare Player's source has been released.  Does anyone know why it isn't
> > > packaged for Debian?  Should I just submit an RTP?
> > > --
> > FYI: a similar program 'Virtual Box' is packaged for Debian.
>
> I got VMWare Player going at the expense of a very irritating kernel
> rebuild.  The advantage of VMWare is their packaging utility that converts
> existing Windows installations into VMs, and their tools (special video and
> mouse drivers) that let the VM blend seamlessly with X.  I don't see mention
> of these things for VirtualBox.

I don't think VirtualBox has such a conversion utility, but I'm almost 
sure that you can use one created by vmware's on VirtualBox. I have 
successfully run two physical Windows installs inside VirtualBox with 
just a little bit of hacking. I could even get them to work inside the 
VM and through direct boot.

VBox has this package called Guest Additions that's similar to VMWare 
Tools in the sense that it makes the VM integrate with X (display 
resolution, mouse and even a feature that's called Seamless Integration, 
that allows you to run Win windows on top of your X desktop).

By using VBox, you can also create and edit VMs without having to resort 
to external apps, like easyvmx.com or a text editor.

> Gripe: I had to rebuild the kernel because VMWare Player requires certain
> kernel modules, and they don't ship prebuilt ones for Debian.  Their
> installer will then try to compile them, but they GCC build has to match the
> GCC used to compile the kernel, and Debian kernels are compiled with a
> significantly older GCC than is included in Testing.

That's another advantage of VBox. I have never had any problem with its 
modules. VMWare's, though, are a pain in the ***...

> VMWare Player works great, by the way.

Definitely, and it is great that they have made it open!

Hope this helps!
Cassiano Leal