In August 2005 VMware chosen to open its ESX Server source code for better 3rd parties products integration, involving major vendors in the IT industry, with the final aim to reach common agreed virtualization standards.
The program, called Community Source, is going on and it has a site called The Virtualization Development Center.
Welcome to vmdev.net, VMware’s portal to advanced virtualization development through the Community Source Program. Members of the Community have access to source code, documentation, and other resources for collaborative development of ESX Server. You can influence the evolution of ESX Server and drive the definition of new interfaces (APIs). You can use access to source code to accelerate support for your products, or to optimize performance with ESX Server (including enhancing ESX Server to work better with your products). Source code access also enhances your ability to troubleshoot problems and improve customer responsiveness.
The Community Source Program is open to all hardware and software vendors who are interested in the delivery of differentiated product capabilities that feature deep integration with VMware’s highly functional and stable virtualization software. By building on a mature platform with widespread enterprise customer acceptance, you can deliver solutions that gain immediate commercial viability and accelerate the return on your development investment.