
Docker acquires Kitematic - alexkappa
http://blog.docker.com/2015/03/kitematic-a-docker-gui-joins-the-docker-family/
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jamescun
For a company who is "not trying to own the ecosystem" \- they sure are buying
a lot of the ecosystem.

~~~
jonesetc
Eh, kitematic doesn't really do much in my experience, it's just a GUI over
docker. It's just one of those things where they would have eventually made a
GUI anyway, why not just try to grab the best one at the moment if they can?

It also doesn't feel like owning the ecosystem to me because someone else
could (and I'd wager that a handful will) make a new GUI that becomes more
popular than kitematic.

~~~
josephjacks
+1

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pearjuice
I thought Docker wanted to be "just Docker" and not leverage all the tools and
stacks which can or cannot be used with Docker? There is absolutely nothing
wrong with the fist, but I am pretty sure Docker was pushing itself as "just
Docker". All their latest acquisitions don't really reflect the image they
want to portray.

~~~
jarin
I don't get the advantage of that image, though. It makes sense for them to
acquire things that make it easier to get started with Docker. I wouldn't be
surprised if they acquired Panamax too.

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torkalork
Definitely some neat features here which will help people who need to use
Docker but can't use the command line.

For example, when you click the 'Terminal' button on a running container, it
automatically starts a docker-exec command in that container for you, which is
handy.

For people checking it out today, note that it creates its own boot2docker VM,
even if you have one on your system already. So Kitematic won't be able to see
any of the images or containers you have running through your other
boot2docker VM.

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moondowner
Just checked out the source of Kinematic
[https://github.com/kitematic/kitematic](https://github.com/kitematic/kitematic)

Nice use of atom-shell and React.

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donaldguy
Kitematic is pretty cool, though it currently has a rather hard time dealing
with any docker things installed on the system the first time it boots.

Also its AGPL

If under Docker Inc in can fix those couple hurdles to wider adoption, I think
it could become a pretty widely used tool.

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mchiang
Kitematic license has been changed to Apache.

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preillyme
This was a basic acquihire for talent. They've been working at Docker for many
months.

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dang
Also
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9191919](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9191919).

~~~
X-combinator
From InfoWorld - [http://www.infoworld.com/article/2896099/application-
virtual...](http://www.infoworld.com/article/2896099/application-
virtualization/dockers-new-acquisition-does-containers-on-the-desktop.html)

And earlier...
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9190710](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9190710)

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delsalk
I find it amusing that a application only runnable on OSX needs to drag along
node + quite a few deps.

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so0k
agreed, their roadmap aims for a windows port by May/June.

I'd rather keep my Powershell + Hyper-V instead of nodejs + VirtualBox

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joshmn
First thing that I said was "nice!!!"

Jeff and Michael and Sean are smart, awesome dudes who built a great product.

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notduncansmith
I remember when Kitematic first launched, they spent about an hour with me in
a Hipchat support room. I hope they have a great time at Docker Inc!

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josephjacks
Interesting acquisition that proves graphical mgmt of containers is an
important part of the UX.

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joseph4521
I never thought you could "buy" an open source project.

~~~
Moto7451
Sure, copyrights are still in effect and can be sold to other parties. One
reason holding copyright over open source code is important is license
enforcement. The benefits of holding copyright over code is why the FSF wants
copyrights assigned to them [1].

[1] [https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-
assign.html](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-assign.html)

