Docker users share unfiltered feedback on containerization

• Modern Infrastructure Staff
• Published: 19 Jul 2016

Docker users from Argentina to France have two things in common: an interest in the potential of IT containers and a willingness to share the good, bad and ugly of implementing Docker.

Docker is synonymous with containers, which isolate apps with virtualization above the operating system level on a server or cloud instance. Docker, while a relatively young company, is experiencing rampant adoption among developers and IT administrators.

Docker users can package applications into containers and port those containers around from servers in a private data center to public cloud instances, enabling hybrid cloud, a DevOps methodology and more flexibility in the IT infrastructure than server-level virtualization alone.

With all the potential and possibilities of Docker, it is not without issues. As seen in the tweets below, Docker users report difficult installs, failed builds and other frustrations.

#Docker...excellent tool for isolate apps and wiring them

— Martín J. Barciela (@mbarciela) June 23, 2016

Martín J. Barciela, service quality manager at Synchro Technologies, a software and consulting firm based in Argentina, notes the power of Docker for isolating applications and composing them without complicated, static architectures.

Turns out #docker is an absolute chore to install on Windows 7. Talk about rabbit holes. #ProgNET

— Tom Mutton (@tmutton) June 23, 2016

Tom Mutton is a full stack developer, working for Business Systems UK Ltd. Full stack developers strive to understand and work with every layer of the software they produce or maintain. Mutton laments the "absolute chore" of installing Docker.

Just installed #WindowsInsiders 14371 to use #Docker with windows containers. Build fails with oci runtime /bin/sh no such file. What to do?

— Kenneth Fuglsang (@kfuglsang) June 23, 2016

Docker user Kenneth Fuglsang, CTO of Denmark-based consulting firm Agidon A/S, had his own trials with Docker, working with Windows containers. Microsoft requires Docker for its native Windows Server containers released with version 2016 of the OS.

#Docker is moving so fast… It makes me think of a flock of starlings whirling in the sky…

— Kadda SAHNINE (@ksahnine) June 23, 2016

Docker's move from newcomer in container-level virtualization to darling of the IT and development communities alike, along with the rampant growth of new features, partners and competitors prompted this apt comparison from Kadda Sahnine, senior technical architect at French application development and technology consultancy Inovia Conseil.

What could be next for our technical solutions? #docker #container rocks!

— CheersMonkey (@CheersMonkey) June 23, 2016

Money sharing startup CheersMonkey.com, which offers a service for friends to treat each other to drinks, food and more, foresees a technical platform built with Docker containers. Many organizations are developing new applications in native container builds, to take advantage of the cloud scalability and low capacity overhead that containers offer compared to virtual machines.

Container in today's tech world means isolated resource controlled and portable operating system which means #Docker container

— Sir Ibrahim Mohammed (@sir_ibrahim) June 23, 2016

Ibrahim Mohammed, solutions architect for DotNET e-Business Associates and Consulting in Nigeria, sums up some of the top benefits that Docker users see in the containers: resource isolation and control paired with portability for apps. Mohammed also tweeted that containers "are the next evolution of virtualization."

Working with #docker mac host mounted volumes almost impossible. Looking forward @docker to solve it.

— Nikolai Zujev (@nikolaizujev) June 23, 2016

Docker appeals to DevOps shops because it enables developers to package applications on their laptops and send those isolated containers to production seamlessly. Or at least it should. Nikolai Zujev, lead software engineer at foodpanda, a mobile food delivery marketplace headquartered in Berlin, found it "almost impossible" to work with mounted volumes on a Mac host in Docker.

I just installed #tensorflow on #centos in a #Docker container on #Windows. So I guess you could say I'm a pretty big deal.

— CS Student (@TuringConfused) June 23, 2016

@TuringConfused is a novelty Twitter account chronicling the trials and tribulations of computer science students. So are you experimenting with Docker? It's a pretty big deal.