Vendor lock-in is either a key technology problem or an overhyped marketing missile depending on the point of view. I think there's a definition problem at the heart of the agita over in the issue. John Dewey remarked, "A problem well put is half-solved," so I aim to reframe the question while trying to avoid bikeshedding. The heart of vendor lock-in is the obscene nature of the problem, by which I mean "I know it when I see it" a la Potter Stewart's famous opinion on obscenity laws. You can almost hear the start of a Jeff Foxworthy routine...

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Veritas Storage Foundation has an optional utility called Simple Admin, that you can switch Veritas File system and Veritas Volume Manager. The Simple Admin utility simplifies storage management by providing a single interface to the administrator and by abstracting the administrator from many of the commands needed to create and manage volumes, disk groups, and file systems.