"All problems in computer science can be solved by another level of indirection" - David Wheeler
That's what "containers" are, of course. There's so much state in OS file namespaces that running any complex program requires "installation" first. That's such a mess that virtual machines were created to allow a custom OS environment for a program. Then that turned into a mess, with, for example, a large number of canned AWS instances to choose from. So now we have another level of indirection, "containers".
Next I expect we'll have container logistics management startups. These will store your container in a cloud-based "warehouse", and will continuously take bids for container execution resources. Containers will be automatically moved around from Amazon to Google to Rackspace, etc. depending on who's offering the lowest bid right now.
That's what "containers" are, of course. There's so much state in OS file namespaces that running any complex program requires "installation" first. That's such a mess that virtual machines were created to allow a custom OS environment for a program. Then that turned into a mess, with, for example, a large number of canned AWS instances to choose from. So now we have another level of indirection, "containers".
Next I expect we'll have container logistics management startups. These will store your container in a cloud-based "warehouse", and will continuously take bids for container execution resources. Containers will be automatically moved around from Amazon to Google to Rackspace, etc. depending on who's offering the lowest bid right now.