Dockerfiles as typically used are not a shining example of reproducible, coherent system definition—but they are a good pragmatic hack. I think when you combine

Dockerfiles as typically used are not a shining example of reproducible, coherent system definition—but they are a good pragmatic hack. I think when you combine the Docker runtime with a more principled image building system, such as Nix or Guix, then you start to approach a really good solution. As for the Docker runtime itself versus various competitors, I don’t really know; this seems like a commodity.