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This refers to the 600+ questions tagged with . This tag is very generic and does not refer to one specific software and it would be better if we could organize the questions based on the specific software used, since the functionality varies greatly with the software under consideration.

I have changed the tag wiki for and created tags for the most popularly used /asked softwares, namely, , , , , (I won't be able to guarantee that these are the most popular ones but going by the search results, this seems to be the trend); we might need some more depending upon the number of questions.

This addresses two main concerns:

Some statistics in relation to this (thanks to hbdgaf for encouraging me to put these up):

In the worst case, it would be around 650 questions that need to be retagged as of 22 July 18:05 UTC.

Some questions are really old and have been addressed sufficiently, so won't need to be retagged, unless necessary. Some cannot be retagged unless the OP specifies what software the problem is about, in such cases leave a comment asking the OP to clearly specify the software.

Questions such as these:

are pretty popular 36k views 39 upvotes but are difficult to be retagged with the above tags, since they are generic enough. I invite your opinion as to what has to be done for such questions (yes, I am out of ideas).

N.B.: This was initiated with reference to:

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  • I completely understand de-lineating all these tags, but I'm not sure we have enough in each category to make it necessary. Do you have any numbers about the volume of re-tagging that would be required to make this happen and have everything where it would need to be?
    – RobotHumans
    Commented Jun 22, 2014 at 17:54
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    @hbdgaf: In the worst case, it would be around 650(the number of questions tagged as "vmware"). Around 166 of those would be tag:vmware-workstation, 174 of those would be tag:vmware-player, 32 of those would be tag:vmware-fusion, 90 of those would be tag:vmware-tools, 11 of those would be tag:esx.
    – jobin
    Commented Jun 22, 2014 at 18:02
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    And your question now has an upvote from me. Maybe you want to put these numbers in your question. It would help people understand that it's a thing and not just blanket observation.
    – RobotHumans
    Commented Jun 22, 2014 at 18:04
  • There are some more tags required, but I am not knowledgeable enough to pick the right tag, so would leave to people who are aware of those.
    – jobin
    Commented Jun 22, 2014 at 18:06

2 Answers 2

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The works okay because it refers to any product made by the company, but I've always thought that application specific tags like , or a broad tag like would be more useful. However company tags can be helpful from branching between different products made by the same company. Since there are 651 questions about VMware Inc. products I think it justifies creation of at least some application specific tags. The big ones being VMware Player, and VMware Workstation. If there is demand for it perhaps even component tags like .

What Happens To The VMware Tag:

I've noticed that the tag now says not to use it, but I think it should be re-instated. It serves a very different purpose from program tags like , or topic tags like . It's company specific, which can be helpful for branching around between a company's different products. It's certainly nowhere near as useful as a topic tag, or a program tag. So I don't think it works well as a primary tag, but I see no reason why (when possible) it couldn't be used as a final addition. Eg: . I would suggest if possible though that it be changed to as that is their name according to their copyright at the bottom of their website.

Corporate Naming Schemes:

A corporate name is generally made up of three parts: "distinctive element", "descriptive element", and a legal ending. All corporations must have a distinctive element, and in most filing jurisdictions, a legal ending to their names.

A Better General Tag:

Not to hijack the thread, but I would also like to put forth the previously mentioned tag even though there are already tags , , and . This tag would serve a wider audience than the company specific , is more specific than , and is slightly broader than . The tag can could work in harmony with the program specific tags of any virtualization product, but would also be helpful for questions that don't yet have a product tag. Much like the tag, the tag would allow for branching between different virtualization products. For example a question could be tagged , and another . This says "Hey I'm a question about virtualization, but more specifically about virtualization with this product".

Getting The Names Correct For VMware Products:

My biggest concern with creating application specific tags for VMware Inc. products would be making sure to get the names correct. VMware Inc. often refers to the same product by multiple abbreviated/altered forms of the name within their articles, and documentation. For Example "VMware" is typically in the name of their products, but often you will read one article that says "VMware Whatever", and then another that just says "Whatever". You may even see this within the same article!

Program Name:

VMware vMotion in VMware vSphere 5.0: Architecture, Performance and Best Practices

Abbreviate Name:

vMotion

Altered Name:

Using VMware vSphere® vMotion® automated migration capability, you can schedule migrations at pre-defined times, without administrator intervention.

In these examples I believe that VMware vMotion is the correct name, because VMware Inc typically has VMware in the product name, and because in the below example the name bears the trademark symbol, and the registred trademark symbol.

VMware® VMotion™ enables the live migration of running virtual machines from one physical server to another with zero downtime, continuous service availability, and complete transaction integrity.

The ESX Tag:

I've never used VMware's high end products, but my understanding is that ESX and ESXi are architectures used by VMware ESXi, and VMware ESX both of which are hypervisors that act as component applications of VMware vSphere and some other products like VMware View.

ESX & ESXi Architectures:

Learn more about the differences between ESX and ESXi hypervisor architectures.

VMware ESX & VMware ESXi Hypervisors:

VMware ESX and VMware ESXi are both bare-metal hypervisors that install directly on the server hardware. Both provide industry-leading performance and scalability; the difference resides in the architecture and the operational management

VMware vSphere:

vSphere is a sophisticated product with multiple components to install and set up.
ESXi can be installed in several ways. To ensure the best vSphere deployment, understand the options thoroughly before beginning the installation.

VMware View:

In this [ https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/info/slug/desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_view/5_0 ] link you can see VMware ESXi listed as part of the download for VMware View 5 Premier Edition.

I see no reason to create architecture specific tags like and since to my knowledge it is only supported by Vmware Inc. in VMware ESX and VMware ESXi and therefore questions about ESX/ESXi will always be about VMware ESX/VMware ESXi, or off-topic. I think if you are only going to create one tag then , would make more sense than because it covers the entire product. Additionally the tag currently refers to VMware ESX which as discussed is different from ESX. Potentially several tags could be made if there were enough questions to justify them, which doesn't appear to be the case at the moment. There is a huge mass of VMware vSphere component programs like VMware vMotion, VMware vSphere Update Manager, VMware ESXi, VMware ESX, VMware vSphere Client, and VMware vSphere Web Client. Don't forget about features within the progams like ESXi Shell, and so forth.

VMware vSphere Update Manager:

VMware vSphere® Update Manager™ automates patch management and eliminates manual tracking and patching of vSphere hosts and virtual machines.

VMware vMotion:

VMware VMotion is included in VMware vSphere™ 4 Advanced, Enterprise and Enterprise Plus editions.

VMware vSphere Web Client:

Client Interfaces for vSphere You have several ways to access vSphere components through vSphere interface options. vSphere interface options include: vSphere Web Client

ESXi Shell:

An ESXi system includes a direct console that allows you to start and stop the system and to perform a limited set of maintenance and troubleshooting tasks. The direct console includes the ESXi Shell. The ESXi Shell includes a set of fully supported ESXCLI commands

As mentioned before the VMware ESXi component program is not limited to VMware Sphere. So there is potential for some other tags like VMware View, and VMware Horizon.

VMware Player & VMware Player Plus

I forgot to write about this, so I'ved edited it in. There are actually different versions of VMware Player. For example there is the freely available VMware Player for private use, there is the purchasable VMware Player Plus for private or commercial use, and there is the VMware Player that comes accompanied by VMware Workstation that is modified to allow installation on the same machine. Would these all be covered by the same tag?

VMware Player:

VMware Player is free for personal non-commercial use. If you would like to learn about Virtual Machines or use them at home you are welcome to use VMware Player for Free.

VMware Player Plus:

VMware Player Plus is designed to be used commercially.
VMware Player Plus supports restricted virtual Machines
Per-incident support offerings are available to VMware Player Plus customers

VMware Player (From VMware Workstation):

Can I commercially use the copy of VMware Player that comes with VMware Workstation? Yes, you can commercially use the copy of VMware Player that comes with VMware Workstation. It must be run on the same machine VMware Workstation is installed on.

Summary:

I think creating application specific tags is a great idea. My only concern would be making sure they are named correctly by checking for publications of the name bearing the Trademarked and Registred Trademark symbols in VMware Inc.'s documentation and articles. Additionally I would suggest a new broad tag should be implemented such as , because there is no point in creating tags for every VMware Inc. application ever made unless there are questions for them. I don't see any reason why the needs to be gotten rid of as it works well for creating company based branches.

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  • I swear on all that I love when I looked earlier there was no "virtualization" tag, but apparently it's been there since 2011. So I'm happy :)
    – please delete me
    Commented Jun 23, 2014 at 1:33
  • For Example "VMware" is typically in the name of their products, but often you will read one article that says "VMware Whatever", and then another that just says "Whatever". You may even see this within the same article! It is very much akin to Google Search, Google and Search; nothing wrong with that.
    – jobin
    Commented Jun 23, 2014 at 3:18
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    I am not sure about VMware Player Plus, but other than the licencing issue, tag:vmware-player could be used for both instances: for commercial and non-commercial purpose, if there are no functional differences in the software. I am still open to the discussion on tag:vmware. Coupling esx and esxi together under tag:vmware-esx should be fine.
    – jobin
    Commented Jun 23, 2014 at 4:46
  • @Jobin There are some differences aside from licensing between the VMware Player versions, but it sounds like they are minor. I haven't found much documentation about it. The VMware Player that comes with VMware Workstation requires it be installed on the same machine as Workstation, the other versions can't be installed on machines running Workstation? The plus version supports "restricted virtual machines", "unattended installation", and the ability to "hide unwanted features". I doubt there are enough specific questions to justify multiple VMware Player tags at this time though.
    – please delete me
    Commented Jun 23, 2014 at 23:08
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    Company tags are most of the time outright wrongly used, and that's why they are discouraged/prohibited. VMware as sole tag on a question doesn't make sense and it's certain that vmware-* would be more useful. Also, this promotes the creation of [vmware] + [player] tags instead of [vmware-player]
    – Braiam
    Commented Jun 24, 2014 at 14:59
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    @Braiam It is true that company tags have high potential for abuse, but this isn't a new tag being proposed. It's been here for years. Unless it's already got an abuse problem why pre-emptively get rid of it? I agree with you that company tags aren't the most useful, but I'm sure some part of the community does like them, or they wouldn't have made them. The site's tags will never be 100% all nice and neat, because everyone has different opinions on what is/isn't useful. Keep in mind that the tag description shows vmware-whatever tags which may help inform people not to make[vmware]+[whatever]
    – please delete me
    Commented Jun 26, 2014 at 6:45
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    @unorthodoxgrammar age is not a excuse to leave a tag alone, it's already abused, serves no propose, and that the site will never have a perfect array of tags doesn't mean we can't try. Your last idea is ridiculous, and I already said why. The Right Thing To Do™ is just removing the tag, plain and simple. Why having a tag that alone can't be and the tag excerpt itself recognize it? Is like having [microsoft], [microsoft-office] and [microsoft-office-excel] for questions about excel. Just overkill.
    – Braiam
    Commented Jun 26, 2014 at 10:46
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I wholeheartedly agree with you. Disambiguation of a tag is always a good thing. If we have tags for the most popular products of vmware why a tag about "vmware" itself? Doesn't sound logic. I would like that all of them have vmware- prefix, since there may be people interested in all vmware products anyways, so following vmware* would be possible.

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