VirtualBox 3.0: An easy way to mix and match operating systems (Computerworld) [LWN.net]

Computerworld reviews Sun's VirtualBox 3.0. "What is it? VirtualBox is an open-source virtualization program which lets you run guest operating systems with your native desktop operating system. For instance, if you need Windows to run Quicken, but prefer Linux for all your other work, VirtualBox enables you to bring up Windows and Quicken without leaving your Linux desktop. What you get is an adjustable window containing the guest operating system floating on the host system. So, for example, you could have a Windows XP guest instance entirely hiding its Linux host system."

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VirtualBox 3.0: An easy way to mix and match operating systems (Computerworld)

Posted Jul 9, 2009 18:13 UTC (Thu) by rgb (guest, #57129) [Link] (9 responses)

Virtual Box is not completely free and open. Essential features like USB support are only available in a proprietary version. For details see http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Editions

VirtualBox 3.0: An easy way to mix and match operating systems (Computerworld)

Posted Jul 9, 2009 19:25 UTC (Thu) by asdlfiui788b (guest, #58839) [Link]

VirtualBox is not Free Software, whatsoever. I was hoping Sun Microsystems would fix that bug but as of yet, they have failed to do so.

VirtualBox OSE is similar to VirtualBox, but many features have been neutered as rgb mentioned, and only this intentionally less functional VirtualBox OSE is Free Software. I won't use VirtualBox because I don't use hostage/proprietary software. I won't use OSE because I don't think I should have to be a second class citizen to preserve my Freedom.

Instead, I am profoundly satisfied with VirtManager, and its server-class yet desktop-friendly support for Xen, KVM, and qemu-backed VMs. I encourage you all to give it a shot.

VirtualBox 3.0: An easy way to mix and match operating systems (Computerworld)

Posted Jul 9, 2009 21:44 UTC (Thu) by einstein (subscriber, #2052) [Link] (1 responses)

> Essential features like USB support are only available in a proprietary version.

Which you can download for free.

VirtualBox 3.0: An easy way to mix and match operating systems (Computerworld)

Posted Jul 9, 2009 22:03 UTC (Thu) by dtlin (subscriber, #36537) [Link]

For some definitions of "free", which not all of this community share. The
fact that a large portion of it is open-source (especially the software
virtualization core) is better than competitors like VMware, but not as good
as having all of it open-source.

I used to use VirtualBox-OSE, but now that I'm on AMD-V capable hardware,
I've found virt-manager + kvm + SeamlessRDP to be a suitable replacement.

VirtualBox 3.0: An easy way to mix and match operating systems (Computerworld)

Posted Jul 10, 2009 14:29 UTC (Fri) by zooko (guest, #2589) [Link] (5 responses)

I got virtual box with "sudo apt-get install virtualbox" on Ubuntu Jaunty and it works very well for me, including with my USB keyboard and mouse. I'll double-check when I get to work today that I didn't accidentally install a non-free version that way, but I would be surprised.

VirtualBox 3.0: An easy way to mix and match operating systems (Computerworld)

Posted Jul 10, 2009 15:12 UTC (Fri) by mjg59 (subscriber, #23239) [Link] (3 responses)

Using USB input devices isn't the same as having USB passthrough. In the first case the input events are simply caught by the host OS and passed through to the guest. In the second case the raw USB data is given to the guest and the host doesn't parse it at all.

VirtualBox 3.0: An easy way to mix and match operating systems (Computerworld)

Posted Jul 10, 2009 17:06 UTC (Fri) by rnjn_sinha (guest, #33124) [Link] (2 responses)

I am not sure if I have understood this completely. I have installed Virtualbox 2.2.4 on an Ubuntu box and when I plug in for example my USB thumb drive, it gives me an option to allow this USB device to be seen by the guest image. IIRC I need to pass the vendor id of the USB device. Does this not mean that USB support is present?

What extra functionality is missing in my installation?

VirtualBox 3.0: An easy way to mix and match operating systems (Computerworld)

Posted Jul 11, 2009 4:19 UTC (Sat) by k8to (guest, #15413) [Link]

I'm unclear exactly about the specifics.

It's possible that you have to do extra steps. Without the passthrough, if you can access the USB, then you are losing some performance in the linkup.

Maybe you are running the non-free version?

VirtualBox 3.0: An easy way to mix and match operating systems (Computerworld)

Posted Jul 14, 2009 14:28 UTC (Tue) by droundy (guest, #4559) [Link]

I think the idea is for USB devices that aren't supported under linux. e.g. if you have some weird webcam that doesn't work under linux, the closed version of virtualbox would let Windows access and use that webcam using its own driver.

VirtualBox 3.0: An easy way to mix and match operating systems (Computerworld)

Posted Jul 11, 2009 15:31 UTC (Sat) by zooko (guest, #2589) [Link]

I double-checked and I am using virtualbox-ose, from Ubuntu "universe" (which means open source but not supported by Canonical). Works okay. Not perfect -- I got into some problems with different layers of window managers competing to capture my "alt-space" or "meta-space" strokes, but once I stopped trying to use alt-space it worked fine.

VirtualBox 3.0: An easy way to mix and match operating systems (Computerworld)

Posted Jul 9, 2009 19:01 UTC (Thu) by emesdayan (guest, #59042) [Link]

Virtualbox is cute, but if you dare run it on top of opensolaris and/or solaris, you can forget about reliable and functional USB support. This has been a problem for over a year, and while there is progress, it is not ready for prime time.

VirtualBox 3.0: An easy way to mix and match operating systems (Computerworld)

Posted Jul 9, 2009 20:25 UTC (Thu) by allesfresser (subscriber, #216) [Link] (2 responses)

Anyone using version 3.0 might want to note that there is a known bug with the network support which will cause virtual machines to freeze and consume 100% CPU: http://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/4343

They advise going back to 2.2.4 if this bites you. It's fixed in SVN but they don't have an ETA for a release fix.

VirtualBox 3.0: An easy way to mix and match operating systems (Computerworld)

Posted Jul 10, 2009 15:56 UTC (Fri) by lkundrak (subscriber, #43452) [Link]

RPM Fusion Free is going to ship packages patched for this problem. Others may be interested in the isolated patch, since the commit logs don't really make it obvious which commits fix it:

http://cvs.rpmfusion.org/viewvc/rpms/VirtualBox-OSE/F-11/...

VirtualBox 3.0: An easy way to mix and match operating systems (Computerworld)

Posted Jul 10, 2009 22:42 UTC (Fri) by nowster (subscriber, #67) [Link]

It looks like 3.0.2 is out. What happened to 3.0.1 is anyone's guess.