Practicing Pragmatism

Warning: this is more or a less a #rant about #docker & #containers (and is of my own strong opinions about containers).

It shouldn't matter whether or not docker is dying, dead, or otherwise. Some folks seem to be elated that Docker will no longer be supported with Kubernetes, other folks seem confused. And there's others, like myself, who see Docker as having built something incredible and having stymied itself trying to transform into a business.

The way I see it, docker's introduction fundamentally changed the way the software, and its infrastructure sub-industry, operate. However, the business side of things made me think that there must have been a significant internal imbalance where idealistic technologists, engineers, and those marketing their efforts were fully at odds. Luckily for us moby (moby having been renamed from Docker to disassociate tech from the business side of things) spawned what is now the Open Containers Initiative and its many specifications for container technologies.

Docker isn't a fundamental player any longer. We have Docker to thank, praise, and continue to use & appreciate for their contributions to Linux primitives – cgroups, psi, some systemd developments, and more. Docker is a fantastic development tool and, despite growing beyond their core components, continues to innovate in building out tools for the community – buildkit, linuxkit, docker-compose (remember when that was python?).

Personally, I have to thank dockerd and its roots for pulling me into its “containers” orbit, teaching me Go, and offering a platform on which to build out my own ideas.

I'm excited for what Docker can become having been liberated from Kubelet. They've done turnabouts before, and I hope this time Docker improves its uses of containerd, runc, and other CRI runtimes while leaving aside related, but distracting efforts. Sheer unbridled intuition tells me that we're going to see them either innovate, thriving on the shoulders of foundational tech.. or fall flat with the community making moby the tool they want and need it to become.

As always, this is my opinion and does not reflect anyone else's or any of my employer's perspective on these matters.

Over the years I have appreciated docker, understood its purpose, exercised it to great results, and hope only to it morph into its next phase in our collective engineering toolboxes. Kubernetes doesn't need Docker and Docker doesn't need to be the bedrock (or in the critical path, as it were) of Kubernetes. Being independent, a tool once again safely malleable, makes for interesting opportunities.