Docker - what use is it?

Gooey0210 , 3 months ago

1. When you're prohibited from using nixos
2. When there's no package for it in nixos, and you're lazy to package it yourself

0p3r470r , 3 months ago

My company deploys a lot of cell modems. Some of them support containers. It’s really nice to deploy everything we need in one piece of equipment, as opposed to 2 or more, for a very simple application.

Several other pieces of network equipment support it now as well. A SIEM can run a remote node directly on a switch.

CTDummy , 3 months ago

Docker is great because you can install something and all the shit it needs is installed and runs in that container. It’s good for a multitude of reasons mine are:

1. No more installing a dependency, tool or library alongside a program that fucks up something else. No more shit breaking because you installed the latest python but some other program breaks if you move beyond 3.10 (and you forgot to use venv I guess).
2. Somewhat a follow on from 1 but this makes for great functionality with self hosting. I can run a couple docker compose/build command and build/rebuild the containers anywhere I need them. I can test a container on a windows computer to see if it does what I want and works as intended and then spin the some container up on my media server, even if it’s a different OS. I have a bunch of them on my home server and it and it’s great being able to just plug in the port number of the other containers they need to talk to, if any, and that’s all. One container breaking doesn’t break everything else.

CbtB , 3 months ago

In the context of self-hosted it means easier cleaner installs and avoiding different poorly packaged projects from interfering with each other.

hayalci , 3 months ago

Check out this previous comment

https://lemmy.ml/comment/9168742

jws_shadotak , 3 months ago

Aside from the technical explanation that others have given, here's how I use Docker:

MeTube to rip videos and stuff easily. Just plug in a link and most times it'll work. Here's a list of all the supported sites.

I use Sonarr/Radarr and qBittorrent with gluetun to search for and download TV and movies that I watch on Plex.

I host my own Immich server that will automatically back up my photos from my phone just like Google Photos, except I own it all and it's all kept private. It has its own machine learning and facial recognition, so I can search for "dog" and get all the pictures of my dogs, or I can search by person.

I use Docker for all this because the images come in little prepackaged containers. It's super easy to get into once you figure out some of the basics.

Another great benefit of these containers is that you can transfer it to another system if needed. Just copy the config and data over to the new system and point the container in the right direction and it'll pick up where it left off.