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Cantrill is really an interesting character who has been through some hard knocks (Sun -> Oracle) and what must be some very stinging disappointments over the c

Cantrill is really an interesting character who has been through some hard knocks (Sun -> Oracle) and what must be some very stinging disappointments over the course of his career. I think it's a reasonable inference that at some point, a smart, high-level engineer like himself would have wised up to the game. Right now, that's the best interpretation I have for his conduct re: pronouns, and some of the more transparent sales pitches that bleed through his presentations. His talks are really intriguing for me personally, as I find it therapeutic to try to watch him narrate his conflicted feelings on the rising containerization revolution; I hold many of the same views, including a deep disappointment for the way this has all played out; I can only imagine it's worse for Cantrill, who, as an Solaris/OpenSolaris/illumos dev, has been dealing with this type of disappointment for 20+ years. In one talk, he compares the complexity of a modern devops infrastructure to a nuclear reactor, and in another, he talks about it in terms of God granting fire to mankind, before mankind puts it out without learning to cook because they were afraid that it was too hot. He talks about how he is going to try to discuss some containerization fads "without having an aneurysm". Cantrill is great and we need more visibility from people like him.

justicezyx 9y ago
His historical account on container technology is to me very much a sales pitch for Joyent. The container we talk today is more about packaging and cluster management/orchestration, which is completely independent to the resource/security isolation of what's been invented long before Docker. Note that those things are not important, it's just only a part of the pillars, and TBH, a relatively less important part.
- keganunderwood 9y ago
  Joyent is a joke. I wasn't personally affected by this but I'll always advice against giving them any money, even a single cent. https://www.joyent.com/migration/migration-faq#terms https://www.joyent.com/migration/migration-faq#terms
- al452 9y ago
  That it works as a sales pitch doesn't mean it's inaccurate. The focus of container work pre-Docker really was all about isolation not packaging.
bcantrill 9y ago
I appreciate the kind words, but I have actually had very few real disappointments in my career -- and those that I have have all been of the bad professional breakup variety. (And though I have come to accept that in those that value longevity, some of these kind of breakups are inevitable, it doesn't make them any less painful!) So in my (still young!) career, the good days have far outnumbered the bad ones -- and I am blessed by healthy kids, a loving family, food on the table, and a roof over my head. Which is not to say, of course, that I am above a rant or two, but that there's always a twinkle in the eye that reflects an underlying optimism and gratitude.

justicezyx 9y ago

His historical account on container technology is to me very much a sales pitch for Joyent. The container we talk today is more about packaging and cluster management/orchestration, which is completely independent to the resource/security isolation of what's been invented long before Docker. Note that those things are not important, it's just only a part of the pillars, and TBH, a relatively less important part.

keganunderwood 9y ago
Joyent is a joke. I wasn't personally affected by this but I'll always advice against giving them any money, even a single cent. https://www.joyent.com/migration/migration-faq#terms https://www.joyent.com/migration/migration-faq#terms
al452 9y ago
That it works as a sales pitch doesn't mean it's inaccurate. The focus of container work pre-Docker really was all about isolation not packaging.

bcantrill 9y ago

I appreciate the kind words, but I have actually had very few real disappointments in my career -- and those that I have have all been of the bad professional breakup variety. (And though I have come to accept that in those that value longevity, some of these kind of breakups are inevitable, it doesn't make them any less painful!) So in my (still young!) career, the good days have far outnumbered the bad ones -- and I am blessed by healthy kids, a loving family, food on the table, and a roof over my head. Which is not to say, of course, that I am above a rant or two, but that there's always a twinkle in the eye that reflects an underlying optimism and gratitude.