
Ask HN: Will everyone but Docker make money off of Docker? - canterburry
There is a lot going on in the docker landscape and especially around container management, monitoring etc. I seem to see more innovation around docker coming out of companies other than Docker.<p>Will Docker be another JVM where everyone but Sun made money on Java?
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minimaxir
It's worth noting that Docker's current revenue models are a) hosting Docker
images and b) orchestrating deployments and providing a
dashboard/infrastructure to do so...both of which Google and Mesos are _also_
doing and spending a considerable amount of resources on improving the
container model.

It's also worth noting that unlike the JVM kerfuffle, Docker is open source
(Apache license) and they won't be able to file multibillion lawsuits against
Google over their use of Docker, which in this case may put Docker at a
disadvantage.

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lallysingh
Considering how much Google put into the development of linux's container tech
that Docker uses, that'd be an odd lawsuit.

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avitzurel
As other mentioned before. Docker the core product is open source and free but
in order to use Docker in production you need many supporting
products/features.

Beyond the support which is an obvious path, they have the paid private
hosting, the cloud hosting and more.

If you look at the ecosystem of orchestration and deployment of docker you see
that there's still HUGE room for improvement and people WILL pay for a good
product in this area.

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dantiberian
I talked about this a little bit in
[https://danielcompton.net/2014/12/02/modular-integrated-
dock...](https://danielcompton.net/2014/12/02/modular-integrated-docker-
coreos). The incentives for open source infrastructure are difficult (but not
impossible) to make a business out of.

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emeraldd
I highly doubt that. They've already made significant in roads to monetizing
the product:

[https://www.docker.com/pricing](https://www.docker.com/pricing)

For a small/startup kind of shop that might not be overly appealing, but there
are definitely classes of business who see support as a requirement.

~~~
canterburry
Yes, they certainly have...but they don't seem to be moving nearly as fast as
RedHat on OpenShift, the Kubernetes project itself and now even HP.

All the established enterprise companies seem to be eating Docker's lunch by
signing huge enterprise deals off of a technology Docker invented and SHOULD
have first mover advantage.

~~~
lewisl9029
Kubernetes is still the elephant in the room, but Docker Swarm definitely
seems to be gaining a lot of traction as well despite being a much younger
project.

I certainly wouldn't count them out just yet.

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sagichmal
In what universe is Swarm gaining traction?! I am honestly curious; I'm deep
in the ecosystem and I don't know of a single shop that uses Swarm for
anything other than a POC, maybe.

~~~
lewisl9029
Personally, I can only provide the anecdata of noticing many more DevOps jobs
postings mention Swarm lately, albeit often in the same breath as Kubernetes.
This doesn't mean any of them are running Swarm in production, of course, but
it certainly does mean Swarm is beginning to gain mindshare as a potential
alternative.

The results of Docker's recent survey also seems to align with my observations
[1], but of course we should probably take their findings with a grain of
salt.

[1] [https://blog.docker.com/2016/03/swarmweek-docker-swarm-
excee...](https://blog.docker.com/2016/03/swarmweek-docker-swarm-exceeds-
kubernetes-scale/)

~~~
sagichmal
That survey compiled results from those who replied to a Docker marketing
email. The numbers are, near as makes no difference, pure fiction.

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tym0
They managed to make Docker Hub an integral part of a lot of people workflow,
and Docker Hub is not free for private repo so I'm sure they'll be alright.

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mnkmnk
I think all the money that is to be made by docker is by hosting private
docker images and deploying them. Rancher has beat docker-cloud in its own
game.

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optimuspaul
no. Support isn't free.

Also, Sun did make money on Java with certifications and some licensing.

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unlinker
Support isn't free but anybody can also sell support.

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L_Rahman
Yes, but if I'm an enterprise support customer - I'd much rather buy support
from the people who build the product.

~~~
wmf
But from an enterprise perspective "the product" likely means the GUI (e.g.
DC/OS or DUCP), not some daemon buried layers deep.

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unlinker
Welcome to OSS, where the only viable financial model is to sell a product so
bad people will have to pay you for support or to run it for them. (Example:
Automattic with WordPress)

