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Amazon Lambda is like Microsoft Windows was in its early stages. It's a fast-growing, closed/proprietary system for running apps. I wouldn't be surprised if it

Amazon Lambda is like Microsoft Windows was in its early stages. It's a fast-growing, closed/proprietary system for running apps. I wouldn't be surprised if it achieves a near-monopoly for a while... But I think that eventually more flexible open source solutions will take over. Open platforms like Docker and Kubernetes will likely replace Lambda just as Linux replaced Windows on the server-side.

techno_modus 9y ago
> Open platforms like Docker and Kubernetes will likely replace Lambda I am not sure if Docker/Kubernetes are comparable with Lambda. But currently there are some attempts to develop an open source alternative to Lambda and other proprietary FaaS (Function as a Service) platforms like OpenWhisk for Cloud Foundry: http://openwhisk.org/ http://openwhisk.org/
- brianzelip 9y ago
  Thanks much for linking openwhisk, good to know about it.
- jondubois 9y ago
  True, not directly. So it's not as clean a comparison as Windows vs Linux so I meant it more in terms of the ability of one to replace/supersede the other.
_pmf_ 9y ago
> I wouldn't be surprised if it achieves a near-monopoly for a while. I wonder why Google is so passive in this regard; sometimes I think they have an aversion to honest money and real products.
- lucian1900 9y ago
  They've had App Engine for many years. They're the pioneers in this field, if anything.
- melvinram 9y ago
  They have their own Function As A Service offering: https://cloud.google.com/functions/ https://cloud.google.com/functions/
aerique 9y ago
I don't think Linux ever replaced Windows on the server-side. Rather, Windows never made serious inroads into the server-side. Or perhaps I missed the point of your last sentence.
StevePerkins 9y ago
> I wouldn't be surprised if it achieves a near-monopoly for a while... Are you serious? Every major player in the market has a more or less equivalent offering. They started appearing within weeks of AWS Lambda's launch. https://cloud.google.com/functions/ https://cloud.google.com/functions/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/functions/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/functions/ https://www.ibm.com/cloud-computing/bluemix/openwhisk https://www.ibm.com/cloud-computing/bluemix/openwhisk There are also a number of open source projects emerging... to support migrating between providers to reduce lock-in, or to roll your own service: http://openwhisk.incubator.apache.org/ http://openwhisk.incubator.apache.org/ https://github.com/spring-cloud/spring-cloud-function https://github.com/spring-cloud/spring-cloud-function
- jondubois 9y ago
  Just because these others exist doesn't mean that Lambda cannot be a monopoly. Minix was around when Windows had a monopoly, but Minix never had any meaningful market share.

techno_modus 9y ago

> Open platforms like Docker and Kubernetes will likely replace Lambda I am not sure if Docker/Kubernetes are comparable with Lambda. But currently there are some attempts to develop an open source alternative to Lambda and other proprietary FaaS (Function as a Service) platforms like OpenWhisk for Cloud Foundry: http://openwhisk.org/ http://openwhisk.org/

brianzelip 9y ago
Thanks much for linking openwhisk, good to know about it.
jondubois 9y ago
True, not directly. So it's not as clean a comparison as Windows vs Linux so I meant it more in terms of the ability of one to replace/supersede the other.

_pmf_ 9y ago

> I wouldn't be surprised if it achieves a near-monopoly for a while. I wonder why Google is so passive in this regard; sometimes I think they have an aversion to honest money and real products.

lucian1900 9y ago
They've had App Engine for many years. They're the pioneers in this field, if anything.
melvinram 9y ago
They have their own Function As A Service offering: https://cloud.google.com/functions/ https://cloud.google.com/functions/

aerique 9y ago

I don't think Linux ever replaced Windows on the server-side. Rather, Windows never made serious inroads into the server-side. Or perhaps I missed the point of your last sentence.

StevePerkins 9y ago

> I wouldn't be surprised if it achieves a near-monopoly for a while... Are you serious? Every major player in the market has a more or less equivalent offering. They started appearing within weeks of AWS Lambda's launch. https://cloud.google.com/functions/ https://cloud.google.com/functions/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/functions/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/functions/ https://www.ibm.com/cloud-computing/bluemix/openwhisk https://www.ibm.com/cloud-computing/bluemix/openwhisk There are also a number of open source projects emerging... to support migrating between providers to reduce lock-in, or to roll your own service: http://openwhisk.incubator.apache.org/ http://openwhisk.incubator.apache.org/ https://github.com/spring-cloud/spring-cloud-function https://github.com/spring-cloud/spring-cloud-function

jondubois 9y ago
Just because these others exist doesn't mean that Lambda cannot be a monopoly. Minix was around when Windows had a monopoly, but Minix never had any meaningful market share.