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Docker looks like a really interesting concept, but to say that with docker you can "write once, run anywhere" is a misrepresentation at best, and an outright l

by snoman 12y ago

Docker looks like a really interesting concept, but to say that with docker you can "write once, run anywhere" is a misrepresentation at best, and an outright lie at worst. Looking at their docs (https://docs.docker.com/installation/windows/ https://docs.docker.com/installation/windows/) their idea of "running on windows" is "running in a virtualbox linux vm, on windows". That really rubs me the wrong way and I'm surprised that the HN community lets it slide.

drcode 12y ago
Docker is a new technology- I suspect the poor support that Windows has for Docker is going to cut into Microsoft's bottom line in the coming years. Microsoft MUST support high performance docker in the next year or I suspect they are going to lose a lot of server customers soon, if Docker's exponential adoption curve continues for the foreseeable future. Let's face it- Microsoft Windows is really just a legacy OS now... They either need to switch to a UNIX-derived kernel, which would allow for native docker support (amongst a million other advantages that come from sharing a sensible common infrastructure with other OSes) or they are headed for the dustbin of history pretty soon.
- Bahamut 12y ago
  As nice as that would be, I don't see this happening until gaming gets popular on unix based platforms. Ths would be because then it becomes easier for consumers to flee to another OS. With gaming predominantly on Windows platforms for PCs, gamers have no choice but to use Windows to play most of the games they're interested in, which locks them into Windows.
- jpgvm 12y ago
  No. Windows need not support Docker. Lets be honest. How many people are deploying WebLogic on Docker? How about SAP? How about any large enterprise back office application at all? You see, Windows Server serves an entirely different market. The kind of applications being deployed on OS level virtualisation just don't get deployed on Windows anyways. About as close as you are going to get are Java applications which even then are usually deployed on a point of abstraction like an application server. (At the end of the day RHEL is still much more common for big Java apps) That is not to say that Windows would not benefit from some sort of OS level virtualisation, only that it means absolutely nothing that they don't have it right now (or even for a few years). Windows Server will continue to dominate back office deployments ad infinitum.
- lobster_johnson 12y ago
  > Windows is really just a legacy OS now As much as I dislike Windows, there is a whole world of "enterprise" software running on Windows that isn't going away. SQL Server and Active Directory come to mind as Microsoft products being heavily and actively invested in by the enterprise. If you're in the Ruby/Python/Go/Docker/whatever echo chamber it's easy to miss the other echo chambers out there. There are tons of companies out there still making a decent living from developing and maintaining software in curiously tenacious tech like Delphi, FileMaker and MUMPS.
  - drcode 12y ago
    > There are tons of companies out there still making a decent living from developing and maintaining software in curiously tenacious tech like Delphi, FileMaker and MUMPS. Right, those are the very definition of legacy software... so where is your disagreement with me?
    - lobster_johnson 12y ago
      Those were two separate, unrelated points (though a lot of people would disagree that Delphi and MUMPS are legacy software, though FileMaker surely is).
jamra 12y ago
I believe that's the same with OS X. When I tried out Docker, you could only run on OS X with Vagrant.
nl 12y ago
It isn't talking about operating system compatibility. It's talking about being able to use the same container technology on a "choice of deployment from laptops to bare metal to VMs to private and public clouds."

by snoman 12y ago

drcode 12y ago

Docker is a new technology- I suspect the poor support that Windows has for Docker is going to cut into Microsoft's bottom line in the coming years. Microsoft MUST support high performance docker in the next year or I suspect they are going to lose a lot of server customers soon, if Docker's exponential adoption curve continues for the foreseeable future. Let's face it- Microsoft Windows is really just a legacy OS now... They either need to switch to a UNIX-derived kernel, which would allow for native docker support (amongst a million other advantages that come from sharing a sensible common infrastructure with other OSes) or they are headed for the dustbin of history pretty soon.

Bahamut 12y ago
As nice as that would be, I don't see this happening until gaming gets popular on unix based platforms. Ths would be because then it becomes easier for consumers to flee to another OS. With gaming predominantly on Windows platforms for PCs, gamers have no choice but to use Windows to play most of the games they're interested in, which locks them into Windows.
jpgvm 12y ago
No. Windows need not support Docker. Lets be honest. How many people are deploying WebLogic on Docker? How about SAP? How about any large enterprise back office application at all? You see, Windows Server serves an entirely different market. The kind of applications being deployed on OS level virtualisation just don't get deployed on Windows anyways. About as close as you are going to get are Java applications which even then are usually deployed on a point of abstraction like an application server. (At the end of the day RHEL is still much more common for big Java apps) That is not to say that Windows would not benefit from some sort of OS level virtualisation, only that it means absolutely nothing that they don't have it right now (or even for a few years). Windows Server will continue to dominate back office deployments ad infinitum.
lobster_johnson 12y ago
> Windows is really just a legacy OS now As much as I dislike Windows, there is a whole world of "enterprise" software running on Windows that isn't going away. SQL Server and Active Directory come to mind as Microsoft products being heavily and actively invested in by the enterprise. If you're in the Ruby/Python/Go/Docker/whatever echo chamber it's easy to miss the other echo chambers out there. There are tons of companies out there still making a decent living from developing and maintaining software in curiously tenacious tech like Delphi, FileMaker and MUMPS.
- drcode 12y ago
  > There are tons of companies out there still making a decent living from developing and maintaining software in curiously tenacious tech like Delphi, FileMaker and MUMPS. Right, those are the very definition of legacy software... so where is your disagreement with me?
  - lobster_johnson 12y ago
    Those were two separate, unrelated points (though a lot of people would disagree that Delphi and MUMPS are legacy software, though FileMaker surely is).

jamra 12y ago

I believe that's the same with OS X. When I tried out Docker, you could only run on OS X with Vagrant.

nl 12y ago

It isn't talking about operating system compatibility. It's talking about being able to use the same container technology on a "choice of deployment from laptops to bare metal to VMs to private and public clouds."