From SearchOpenSource.com: Virtual appliances emerge as OS distribution mechanism.
For IT managers, the main benefit of an appliance is faster set-up times, said Javier Soltero, co-founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Hyperic Inc., which is considering distributing its open source Hyperic HQ systems management suite as an appliance. "We mentioned to a potential customer that we work hard to keep installation time under thirty minutes. The customer said ‘That’s 29 more minutes than I would have spent if it were an appliance,’" Soltero said.
Hyperic is obviously not in this category, but for most enterprise software vendors, I’d dance for joy if the install were only 29 minutes.
