In preparation for Dockercon this year we noticed that we had an extra badge and wondered what we should do with it. We decided we should ask the community to tell their best Docker stories and we’d pick a winner for the pass.
There were some great stories. One user shared how his whole company was hostile to Docker until he setup a Docker + Kubernetes VR demo.
“On Monday everyone in the office tried destroying our infrastructure in virtual reality.
Needless to say we are moving to docker…”
Other stories looked like they came straight out of CodingHorror
“I remember reading a session description about Docker and thinking here was a technology that could completely displace traditional VMs and change how software is packaged and delivered, while I still have to contend with requesting VMs via Word documents at work. It was such a crazy dichotomy that I just couldn’t help but laugh at the absurd difference between the two.
Today, I still have to request VMs by filling out a Word document. But, once I get them, I just slap the Docker Engine in and make great things happen.”
Two stories really stood out from the rest. One engineer with the username arcticblue shared how their adoption of Docker led them to move halfway across the world and their skills were lucrative enough to pay for their mother-in-laws’s expensive medical care.
“Docker helped me move halfway around the world on a whim, find a job, and help keep my mother-in-law alive.”
In the end we needed to pick a winner and user ghostcopy came through with a great fiction story about being swallowed by the great Docker whale.
“I realized what was happening. The dream, the inefficient monoliths I was building, the suffering I was putting my team through as they waited for VMs to be given to them by infra/ops. The warning signs were pointing to this. We had been swallowed by Moby Dock.”
You can read all the stories on Reddit. Arcticblue will receive a the runner up prize of a Raspberry Pi while Ghostcopy will be joining us at Dockercon in Austin TX!
Without further ado, here is the winning story, in it’s entirety.
I woke up surrounded in darkness…
“Where the hell am I?”
The last thing I was doing before suddenly blacking out what was building a large, monolithic service that couldn’t easily be scaled out. I knew I was wrong for doing this, but it was the only way I knew how to do things. There was no time for anything else. If a component crashed and brought down the rest of the service, then to hell with it. It’s what the boss wanted.
Sam called out from across the darkeness. “Jonah, are you there?”
“Yeah, Sam, I’m here. Where are we?”
“I don’t know, Jonah. All I remember is working with you in the office and then getting blindsided.”
I remembered I had a lighter in my pocket. It’s funny because I never smoked, but I always carried a lighter because of the belief it’s just a useful item to carry around. Sam always gave me shit for that, but I’m sure at this moment he’d be grateful. I pulled out the lighter and sparked it up.
“Thank God, Jonah. I never actually thought your fucking lighter would come to use.”
I chuckled at Sam’s comment while trying to explore my surroundings. As I slowly moved forward, I felt around with my hands. I couldn’t see more than a foot ahead of me.
“Dude what the fuck is this? It’s slimy,” Sam remarked
I reached out to feel the wall. It was soft and moist. It almost felt like a mucous-lined membrane. I had been here before. It was in a dream four nights ago. Then I suddenly froze.
“Sam, that ELK stack you were working. Were you deploying the components as VMs or containers?”
“They were VMs. The boss doesn’t believe in containers, Jonah. And it’s not like we ever took the time to justify containers to him. Why the fuck does it matter right now?”
I realized what was happening. The dream, the inefficient monoliths I was building, the suffering I was putting my team through as they waited for VMs to be given to them by infra/ops. The warning signs were pointing to this. We had been swallowed by Moby Dock.
“Sam, you’re not going to believe this, but I need to tell you something.”
“Sam?”
Sam was gone.
I sat there alone, in silence. I didn’t know if I was going to make it out. I thought about everything I had learned about docker. Not only were containers super convenient and fast, but swarm mode allowed me to join multiple hosts as a cluster and scale out my services. But I insisted on the old ways. I had seen the error of my ways, but it was too late. Just as I was giving up hope, a voice called out.
“Jonah, you are one my best DevOps engineers, but you strayed from the path of DevOps.”
I knew who it was.
“I’m sorry. I now see the error of my ways. Forgive me”
“It is never too late to change, Jonah. Now go.”
My surroundings started to violently shake. Water started to fill up the space, and I was submerged. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t breathe. Then, as I made my final gasp for air, I was forcefully expelled from within Moby Dock onto dry land. I got up and dried myself off. It didn’t take long to realize where I was. I was in Austin. Moby Dock had shown me where I need to be in April.
Later that day I caught a flight back to my home city. I stepped into my office and Sam approached me.
“Infra says they need another 2 weeks to get us those VMs, Jonah”
“Tell infra that won’t be necessary, Sam.”
“Why? Don’t we need the VMs?”
“It’s time to containerize, Sam.”
Sam and I have never looked back since.
