> What are alternatives to containers that provide similar capabilities? VMs on one hand, tools like Guix and Nix on the other. > More philosophically, are co

> What are alternatives to containers that provide similar capabilities? VMs on one hand, tools like Guix and Nix on the other. > More philosophically, are containers a necessary component needed to run software at scale (such as replication and partitioning)? No. They're one tool in the box among others. They're common for reasons, though. > Or are they the result of the accidental complexity the modern OS has? What does this even mean?