For some time now, Innotech's VirtualBox virtualization suite has been open source. However, the binaries they offered on the site were proprietary, despite the fact that the core technology was not.

Now, Ubuntu Gutsy users have the option to install a completely open version of VirtualBox, known as VirtualBox OSE. It is almost identical to the older proprietary version, and is readily available in the Synaptic Package Manager. Users looking for a free and open alternative to VMWare need look no further. Just fire up Synaptic and get ready for some hot VM action.