Picture please, answers too.
I've read the article several times and am still not sure what's being described. A picture would probably be helpful.
What I *think* is being described is
the bare metal (not TM) hardware runs a (hidden subset of a) common widely known Linux which is available for free.
Hidden Linux runs VMware Player (available for free) and some added value "management apps" e.g. the MokaFive Console (this management layer is laughably called BareMetal (tm)).
VMware Player runs the end user OS (probably not free).
I am reasonably familiar with VMware Player; I use it full time at work because various aspects of the work I do need Linux, and the Church of the Subgenius disciples in the IT department refuse to acknowledge the existence of Linux other than to ban it whenever they see it.
Anyway, to more general questions related to GPL in this picture, and one on the overall economics.
How much of the software in this picture would *need* to be GPL'd in addition to the already GPL'd GNU/Linux stuff?
How much of this picture could be used to justify $150/year per desktop at the level of hundreds of desktops, when the ingredients are largely already GPL'd ?
Why is this scheme costing $300-500 over the life of a desktop PC better than paying a one off $100 or so extra per desktop each time desktops are renewed to get a corporate-class PC with a long-lifecycle common build where the vendor guarantees to maintain compatibility for two or three years, rather than the usual bargain-basement PC which changes incompatibly every six months? Or do Intel/HP/Compaq/Dell no longer do this kind of thing for corporate desktops?