We're a co-opetitor to Eucalyptus, I think. Or something. We don't directly target the model of Eucalyptus, which seeks to exactly duplicate the AWS API on your own machines (a valid pursuit, I suppose, but not one we're interested in). We will very likely support Eucalyptus at some point (assuming customers want it; though no one has actually asked for it, so far; it would be relatively easy to add since we already support AWS), as Yet Another Virtualization Layer. We're agnostic about that stuff.
We have built our own (much simpler to use) API and GUI for building private clouds, but it doesn't seek to clone the AWS API in any way. Though it can use AWS as one type of virtual system to be managed (among many others; Xen, OpenVZ, Zones, and vservers, with KVM and VMWare on the TODO list). Where we're particularly strong is in delegation and resource sharing amongst many untrusted parties. We're trying to help people build AWS-style services and sell them or offer them to disparate divisions within a large company. It's still early yet in that plan, but we're speeding up on Cloudmin (our product in this space) now that we have several heavier users of the product.
Anyway, private clouds are definitely something a large number of huge companies want. Amazon has no good incentive for moving into that space, since there's so much room at the bottom where they're operating now, and there's still thousands of companies that will move into the public cloud to one degree or another that have not done so yet. Actually, I guess if Amazon wanted a monopoly on the space, then they would have one good reason for moving into the space, but from everything Bezos has said on the subject, they don't actually want a monopoly or think they could maintain one. We'll see, I guess.
"private clouds are definitely something a large number of huge companies want. Amazon has no good incentive for moving into that space [...]"
Maybe not directly. A year ago Amazon participated in a $12M series B financing for Elastra, a major private cloud player. As far as Amazon is concerned, more private clouds means more hybrid clouds, which means a bigger pond for the every-growing AWS fish.
No argument here. We've found that the folks we're interacting with do want to be able to overflow into AWS, as needed, and with data that is not sensitive.
I think Amazon is moving with astonishing efficiency in this space. If we ever find ourselves in competition with them, I'll probably sleep a little restlessly at night. They're certainly more sure-footed than almost anyone else in the space. They occasionally implement things in ways that are a little obtuse, but in general, they've executed extremely well, iterated rapidly (incredibly so for such a large company), and delivered good products before anyone else even realizes there's a need.
Webmin is a 12 year old Open Source project; it has never been a "company". Virtualmin, as a company, has only existed since mid-2006, and we did YC in winter of 2007.
Virtualmin, the Open Source project, existed for a few years before that, but was always a hobby for Jamie and I and a few other interested parties. Both projects have grown in popularity by a large amount since we started the company. I think the usability and capability has also been improving at a good clip, now that we can spend more time on them (and pay other people to spend time on them).
We have built our own (much simpler to use) API and GUI for building private clouds, but it doesn't seek to clone the AWS API in any way. Though it can use AWS as one type of virtual system to be managed (among many others; Xen, OpenVZ, Zones, and vservers, with KVM and VMWare on the TODO list). Where we're particularly strong is in delegation and resource sharing amongst many untrusted parties. We're trying to help people build AWS-style services and sell them or offer them to disparate divisions within a large company. It's still early yet in that plan, but we're speeding up on Cloudmin (our product in this space) now that we have several heavier users of the product.
Anyway, private clouds are definitely something a large number of huge companies want. Amazon has no good incentive for moving into that space, since there's so much room at the bottom where they're operating now, and there's still thousands of companies that will move into the public cloud to one degree or another that have not done so yet. Actually, I guess if Amazon wanted a monopoly on the space, then they would have one good reason for moving into the space, but from everything Bezos has said on the subject, they don't actually want a monopoly or think they could maintain one. We'll see, I guess.