Docker is in deep trouble

guest · Sep 30, 2019

Docker is in deep trouble
In a leaked internal memo, Docker CEO reveals the troubled company is looking for more money
September 30, 2019
https://www.zdnet.com/article/docker-is-in-deep-trouble/

Docker, the technology, is the poster child for containers. But it appears Docker, the business, is in trouble. In a leaked memo, Docker CEO Rob Bearden praised workers -- despite the "uncertainty [which] brings with it significant challenges" and "persevering in spite of the lack of clarity we've had these past few weeks."

Lack of clarity about what? Sources close to the company say it's simple: Docker needs more money.
Docker has already raised $272.9 million, but the company hasn't been profitable.
What happened?
Actually, Docker's been in trouble for a while now. There have been rumors that the company might be acquired.

But its core problem is the same one it has had for a while now: Docker doesn't have a viable business plan.
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guest · Nov 7, 2020

Software developers scramble as Docker puts limits on container use
New cost-saving limits for free users of a Docker service
November 6, 2020
https://www.protocol.com/docker-containers-software-developers

Reality sank in this week for software developers who built applications using Docker containers over the past few years: The free ride is over.

Earlier this year, Docker announced that it was going to impose new limits on how free users of its Docker Hub service would be able to access public container images stored in that repository, and those changes started rolling out Monday. The move comes almost exactly a year after Docker sold the enterprise version of its software business and 75% of its employees to Mirantis, leaving a much smaller company behind.
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Developers had time to prepare, but many — especially users of the Kubernetes container management service — were still caught off guard this week by the new limits. In response, several vendors offered tips for getting around the issues involved, and AWS announced a plan to offer its own public container registry in the near future.

Docker raised more than $300 million in funding after it created a developer-friendly way to use containers in the mid-2010s, but despite wide use of its container format, the company has struggled to find a business model.
That entire repository is pretty big — over 15 petabytes worth of container images — and storing that much data is not cheap.

"On the order of 30% of our traffic was coming from 1% of our users, and that's not sustainable when those users are free," Berkholz said.
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In the end, Docker's move is a signal that a relatively permissive and free-wheeling era of cloud computing is winding down as it becomes an enormous business.
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guest · Nov 19, 2020

Docker finally enforces pull rate limits, but reckons only 1.5% of users are affected
November 19, 2020
https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/19/docker_pull_rate_enforced/

Container crew Docker has completed rolling out new pull limits for non-paying users, but claimed that only 1.5 per cent of users are affected.

Products veep Donnie Berkholz made this statement in a post about the company's progress with limiting container pulls from Docker Hub for free users, part of an effort to become financially sustainable.
Anonymous users are now limited to 100 container image requests per six hours, and authenticated free users to 200 image requests per six hours.
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Berkholz said that only 1.5 per cent of unique IP addresses, or about 40,000, are impacted by the new limits. The usage of that small percentage is high, though, with "roughly 30 per cent of all downloads" from 1 per cent of anonymous users.
Everybody likes free, but if it encourages unconstrained resource usage there is a downside.
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guest · Dec 8, 2020

Docker's Second Death
December 5, 2020
https://www.tariqislam.com/posts/kubernetes-docker-dep/

The early platform wars, as I call them, were primarily focused around OpenShift, Docker, and Pivotal.
Docker was the up and comer. It was the industry darling making a splash and it had the tech that everyone wanted or that everyone was already using.

The move by Docker to knock on OpenShift forced Red Hat messaging to over-index on Kubernetes and Linux over and above anything else. It worked and the industry caught up.
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In all this time, Docker was always an integral part of Kubernetes.
And for the last 19 releases, that chain is what has been supported in Kubernetes.

And out of all that, the community laboured until now where Docker will be deprecated in the next release of 1.20.
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While it had an amazing journey and an indelible impact to the industry, practically speaking Docker is dead and dying.
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Docker support is being deprecated in Kubernetes, but not completely (December 4, 2020)

Docker is making way for CRI
From version 1.20 onwards, Kubernetes will no longer support Docker in the same way it did before. But while some admins were quick to panic, the change is not as drastic as it might sound.

Kelsey Hightower, a Staff Developer Advocate at Google Cloud, also waded in on the issue, clarifying that Docker is not just for containers.

“There are container images. Docker can build them. There are container registries. Docker can push and pull from them. There are container runtimes. Docker is one of them. There are container processes. Docker can create them but Linux is still the boss."
In other words, Docker can do a lot more, and will continue to do so. Essentially, the issue boils down to Docker being swapped for CRI runtimes.
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guest · Sep 1, 2021

Docker Desktop no longer free for large companies: New 'Business' subscription is here
Search for sustainable business model continues, but most usage will still be free
August 31, 2021
https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/31/docker_desktop_no_longer_free/

Docker will restrict use of the free version of its Docker Desktop utility to individuals or small businesses, and has introduced a new more expensive subscription, as it searches for a sustainable business model.

The company has renamed its Free plan to "Personal" and now requires that businesses with 250 or more employees, or higher than $10m in annual revenue, must use a paid subscription if they require Docker Desktop.
There are no changes to the command-line Docker Engine. The $5/month Pro and $7/month Teams subscriptions continue as before, but a new $21/month Business subscription adds features including centralized management, single sign-on, and enhanced security.
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What is the rationale for the changes? Docker has become a corporate standard, CEO Scott Johnston told us, but there are security challenges with the software supply chain which the company wants to address. Further, and perhaps most importantly, the company needs a viable business model.

"We continue to see growth in the developer market. The latest stat we have is that by 2030 there's going to be 45 million global developers, up from 18-some million today… that requires us to have a business that is sustainably scalable," Johnston told The Register.
Most Docker users use it for free, Johnston confirmed, though he hopes that paid subscriptions will increase as a result of the changes.
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