Kernels: Too Much of a Good Thing?

Peter Glaskowsky's recent Cnet blogsuggests that the concept of anapplication as a self-contained object has the potential to change thesoftware industry, something we strongly believe in. He notes thatvirtual appliances have the potential to change the way we controlapplications, because the application becomes a self-contained objectthat performs a specific purpose.

An application as a self-contained object is an extremely powerful
concept, but virtual appliances include the entire OS with the app. An
inherent requirement by VmWare and any virtual machine, including
virtual appliances, is the use of multiple kernels simultaneously.

Running multiple kernels on one platform is extremely complex and
creates extensive issues - the overhead involved is huge. Meanwhile,
industry giants and start-ups alike are investing tens of millions of
dollars to try to deliver solutions to address the issues caused by
running multiple kernels on one platform. The industry needs to stop
throwing money at the kernel problem.

Kernels are great, but sometimes one is enough. While there are times
when multiple kernels are needed such as when crossing OS boundaries
(i.e. a Windows app on Linux or Solaris) - even those limitations will
soon change. When using a self-contained application image, there is no
need for multiple kernels.

The focus should be on running multiple applications on the same kernel.
Application virtualization provides the same benefits of a virtual
appliance without the need to run multiple kernels; apps execute using
the same kernel.