VMware is going open source.
It’s conjured up View Open Client, an open source client for virtual desktop infrastructure meant to be used by data centers for hosting user desktops and making personalized user desktops accessible from most any device all of the time.
The move pressures both Microsoft and the traditional PC makers. Gartner is currently projecting that approximately 50 million user licenses for hosted virtual desktops will be purchased by 2013 and that thin-client terminals will account for about 40% of user devices for hosted virtual desktop deployment.
VMware says access to the View Open Client source code will let folks optimize their devices for delivering personalized virtual desktops and accelerate the development and delivery of enterprise-style provisioning and management schemes.
The move is part of its vClient Initiative to deliver what it calls universal clients that follow users to any end point.
VMware is putting the code out under the relatively business-friendly Lesser General Public License 2.1 (LGPL v 2.1) at http://code.google.com/p/vmware-view-open-client/ with support through the View Open Client community there.
It says some of the features in the release support secure tunneling using SSL, two-factor authentication with RSA SecurID, Novell’s SLETC Add-On RPM package and a full command-line interface.
The expectation is a broader range of thin clients will be certified for VMware View, the security of existing thin clients will increase through secure tunneling and the cost of deploying virtual desktops drop.