In the early 2000s (yes, long after the original jails), containers were pitched as an alternative to VMware's VMs. They lost out for a variety of reasons--but

In the early 2000s (yes, long after the original jails), containers were pitched as an alternative to VMware's VMs. They lost out for a variety of reasons--but mostly because as purely a different (and somewhat lighter-weight) encapsulation technique they weren't that interesting.