Is Broadcomm going to actively maintain VMWare Workstation PRO? Or is is going to abandon it?

[yrona]

This is a question for Broadcomm..

What are your intentions with VMWare Workstation?    Are you going to abandon it or are you going to maintain it?

I ask because for many months, VMWare Workstation 17.5.x  won't work out of the box with the most recent Linux Kernels.  The issue is caused by an inability to locally compile and link the vmnet and vmmon modules.  That inability is not due to a difficult technical issue.  Rather it's solely due to a failure to update the include files used to link to the system architecture to keep them in alignment with the kernel changes.  This is the sort of thing an experienced developer should be able to fix within a week.

In the past some outside developers who use VMWare Workstation Pro have published the fixes that Broadcomm wouldn't, and kept things going.  However, these outsiders seem to have lost interest.  I expect they are abandoning VMWare and see no benefit to donating their technical expertise to keep what is starting to look like abandonware up and running.

It would be nice to know what Broadcomm's intentions are.  

1) If they do plan to maintain VMWare Workstation as a viable product, could they assign resources to fix this issue?  Could they also let us know when we might expect a fix?

2) If they are planning to put the product on the back-burner and treat it with benign neglect, could they let us know so that we can make alternate arrangements?

I ask you to please give us the courtesy of a straight answer.  

[Gregory Chavez]

Hello, yrona

I understand your concern regarding VMware Workstation and its compatibility with recent Linux kernels. While I’m not directly affiliated with Broadcom, I can provide some insights based information.

Broadcom’s Acquisition of VMware:
Broadcom recently completed the acquisition of VMware, which has implications for the future of VMware products see here: https://investors.broadcom.com/news-releases/news-release-details/dollartreecompass/broadcom-completes-acquisition-vmware.

The focus moving forward is to enable enterprise customers to create and modernize their private and hybrid cloud environments, with investments in VMware Cloud Foundation as the foundation of private and hybrid clouds.
VMware Workstation’s Maintenance and Support:
As of now, VMware Workstation remains a widely used product for virtualization and development purposes.
While I don’t have specific details on Broadcom’s plans for VMware Workstation, it’s essential to monitor official announcements and updates from Broadcom and VMware.
Community and Outside Developers:
You’ve rightly pointed out that outside developers have previously contributed fixes to keep VMware Workstation running.
If you encounter issues, consider engaging with the broader community, including forums and discussions, to explore potential solutions.

I hope this info is helpful to you.

Best Regard,
Gregory Chavez

[goldeneye_007]

We are getting off of it ASAP. We have a whole office full of Workstation licenses but they couldn't be bothered to migrate our information and effectively denied we are customers. Regardless of how the product ends up, you just can't do that to your client base.