Quoting TechTarget

Although server virtualization is an equal opportunity platform for all operating systems, it is and will continue to be a boon to enterprise Linux adoption, says VMware Inc.'s director of data center products Patrick Lin.

In this interview with SearchOpenSource.com's site editor Jan Stafford, Lin talks about VMware's historical connection to Linux, how virtualization makes it easy to switch to Linux and the traits that make Linux a plus for application productivity. He also discusses the role virtual appliances will play in reducing operating system sprawl in virtual environments.

SearchOpenSource.com: VMware takes a stance of being operating-system agnostic, but do you see a particular synergy between virtualization and Linux?

Patrick Lin: They're very highly complementary. The first product we put out at VMware -- the first version of Workstation -- was actually based on Linux.

In a lot of cases, virtualization can allow you to migrate things into a different operating system environment without a lot of risk. Legacy re-hosting is one example. Another example is if a company has been predominantly a Windows shop but wants to start experimenting with Linux. One of the safest and least impactful ways to do that is to create some Linux VMs [virtual machines] on top of the existing virtualized infrastructure.

Virtualization ensures that that instance of Linux is completely isolated from all perspectives, including performance. VMware virtualization supports unmodified guest operating systems, which means that companies can choose whatever Linux type they want and run it. That really eases Linux's entry into environments that are dominated by Windows.

Read the entire interview, here.