Containerize Everything

Containerize Everything

I discover new software daily. Hacker News headlines, Product Hunt, or during conversations are some avenues of discovery. My curiosity wants to install and test everything. This is neither feasible or manageable for you or your computer's sake.

Would you install 10 new software packages on your primary computer every week? Likely not. Installing so much software will cause conflicts, complete organizational chaos, and performance issues. Needless to say, your Network Administrator will be jumping through the roof.

What if I told you that you could accomplish this without headaches. I propose everyone to start Containerizing everything. Software installed into containers provides so much upside. The scales will actually fall over in huge favor for containerizing everything.

Former Docker engineer Jess Frazelle compiled a list of applications she containerized. The Dockerfiles list was the first of it's kind. She containerized every application running on her laptop. Applications Chrome, Skype, to Spotify run inside containers. Several lists since have popped up but the trend continues to grow.

Why should we Containerize Everything?

Most software today is easy to install and configure. Well...Take that back. Could you ask your parents to install Google's machine learning software Tensorflow? Likely not. I know there are exceptions but not my parents. That is why we should make it easier to run all software regardless how complex the software is.

Containers remove the burden of installation and configuration. This removed burden will make the software easier to adopt for the masses.

5 Benefits of Containerizing Everything

  • Easier to Run docker run
  • Installation & Configuration is already done
  • Run Applications only when needed
  • Isolate Applications
  • Make software even easier

If you Build it, They will come

Build It

The next time you install software check Docker Hub to see if it already exists as a container. If the software is not available as a container, Build It.

Recently, I discovered the HTML presentation framework Webslides. Not only am I a fan of anything other than Powerpoint but this is cool software. Since WebSlides is brand new a container did not exist. I spent 5 minutes creating a container for Webslides. Now it is available for all with a simple docker command:

docker run -d -p 8080:80 vegasbrianc/webslides

Wrap up

We have covered the benefits and why to containerize everything. Now, is time to act. The next time you discover new software that is not available in a container Build It. Creating a container will take a few minutes but will pay dividends to potential users of the container.

Give and Grow. This is the sustainable way to continue making software easier and accessible for all.

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