On Sun, 30 Aug 2015 21:11:01 -0500
Nate Bargmann <n0nb@???> wrote:

> And all along I thought a "dock" had to do with a place to put program
> icons on a desktop and that "docker" was a tool to handle it. I've
> ignored everything about virtual machines except for Virtual Box and
> QEMU.
>
> Evidently, I now have to know that a "container" is a virtual machine.
> Or is it? Seems like more buzz words for buzz words sake.
>
> - Nate

There's a distinction. A VM is an instance of an entire operating
system, including kernel. It can run pretty much any OS as a guest.

A container guest uses the host's OS, so the host must be Linux. The
advantage is very, very quick startup and very low resources, not
having to run an entire kernel in each instance.

"Docker" is one implementation of a container.

SteveT

Steve Litt
August 2015 featured book: Troubleshooting: Just the Facts
http://www.troubleshooters.com/tjust