Re: questions regarding Docker, Ada and Alire

["Stéphane Rivière" <stef@genesix.org>]

Hi Kenneth,

Docker's main relevant use is to offer, at the price of a slight loss of
performance (~15% max), a solid integration for a complex application
including multiple linked programmes (e.g. a mail server).

Docker's interface and standardization make it a pleasure to use. Docker
is also a fast way of deploying a test environment and, in some cases,
Docker is the best way to install an application.

But today's followers sheep swear by micro-services¹, docker, k8s and
other concepts that make applications huge, horribly complex and
non-debuggable...

¹ Since many coders are unable to create more than a few hundred
coherent lines, let's multiply these blocks of code into hundreds of
micro-services, which communicate in a complex and inefficient way.

So, docker is good, Alire is great, but these concepts don't solve
everything. It could be an interesting experiment to link the two if
there are complex program associations.

For example, Docker and Ada could be combined to create a business
application with an integrated MySQL or PostgreSQL DB. Even if the
adoption of the very powerful SQLite would make it possible not to use
Docker.

We avoid using Docker in our multi-DC infrastructure based on Xen and
Debian since we already handle Xen virtual instances. We also observed
that a Docker instance was less reliable and secure than a virtualized
Xen or KVM instance.

We look forward to hearing about your experiences :)

-- 
Stéphane Rivière
Ile d'Oléron - France