Re:How containers became a tech darling, and why Docker beca...
by pjc50 on Monday May 25, 2015 @06:43AM
(#9599449)
I think Linux took off [versus Solaris and FreeBSD] because of package management. I think that’s basically it. Docker’s taking off because it’s the new package management. It’s just that simple.
Solaris used to cost money and not ship with all kinds of user-friendly things like a nice shell or a C compiler.
He's right about package management. This is being fought out again with the language-specific package management systems. People want to install the tip of the iceberg that is the software they actually want, without worrying about the rest of the iceberg of supporting software and all its security updates and version conflicts.
Containers also exist because UNIX has no good standard way of delegating resources that aren't files. You can give users disk quotas but not memory quotas. You can't delegate management of a TCP port or IP address to a user. You can't delegate users into "sub-users" for their administrative convenience.
Containers also answer the question of "what do I need to clean up when this system has been compromised?" Because security is still a disaster area, admins need a means of effectively partitioning systems and cleaning up after breaches.
Solaris used to cost money and not ship with all kinds of user-friendly things like a nice shell or a C compiler.
He's right about package management. This is being fought out again with the language-specific package management systems. People want to install the tip of the iceberg that is the software they actually want, without worrying about the rest of the iceberg of supporting software and all its security updates and version conflicts.
Containers also exist because UNIX has no good standard way of delegating resources that aren't files. You can give users disk quotas but not memory quotas. You can't delegate management of a TCP port or IP address to a user. You can't delegate users into "sub-users" for their administrative convenience.
Containers also answer the question of "what do I need to clean up when this system has been compromised?" Because security is still a disaster area, admins need a means of effectively partitioning systems and cleaning up after breaches.