Strategic Thinking (was: Re: Speculative: Rust for base system components)

[Cy Schubert]

In message <alpine.BSF.2.20.1901032030260.40635 at puchar.net>, Wojciech 
Puchar wr
ites:
> >> That's precisely how ideas that most people disagree with get *pushed*
> >> through by evangelists with confirmation bias! Like someone said
> >> earlier in the discussion: does Rust add anything? The answer is a
> >> resounding NO, save for bloat.
> >
> > And this is why one reason people say “FreeBSD is dying”.
> >
> dying for whom?

Not to answer this question but to think strategically:

I come from the corporate/government environment, having spent most of 
my time there. Large datacentres (Canadian spelling), large machines, 
large networks of machines, large networks. In this environment, today, 
virtualization in all forms are the platforms of business. Migrations 
from physical platforms running AIX, Solaris and Linux to either Linux 
on VMware or Linux containers is where they are putting 100% of their 
effort. The language of choice is mostly Java. Much of the Java is 
canned too. What used to be implemented on LAMP stacks is now being 
implemented using microservices. The platform of choice for 
microservices is Linux. Stripped down Linux primarily capable of 
supporting microservices. And now at $JOB we're talking about running 
microservices on Linux VMs -- virtualization on virtualization, on a 
virtual network (NSX). My customers are working on microservices and 
containers that can be migrated from their private cloud to the public 
cloud and back again easily.

Even Microsoft is working on a container strategy. The future is 
containers. The desktop platform isn't nearly as important any more. 
And, the physical server, its location, what it runs on and who runs it 
are also less important. What is important is the speed and cost 
effectiveness of standing up applications.

IMO we have strengths that can immediately be capitalized on, like the 
Linuxulator. If anything could be in base it might be go, the language 
Kubernetes is written in -- don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating 
importing go into base. Having said that, transforming FreeBSD into a 
PaaS platform, tying it all together using Kubernetes would position 
FreeBSD for the future to come. Maybe I'm talking myself into go and 
Kubernetes in base but maybe this could just as easily be done in ports.

Think about this: Kubernetes in base or ports, using the Linuxulator 
and jails (or an implementation of cgroups and namespaces constructs in 
addition to jails). Bhyve and jails provide the enterprise with other 
virtualization options such that a FreeBSD host could host Linux or 
FreeBSD containers, Windows or other VMs, and FreeBSD jails, all on one 
or a cluster of FreeBSD hosts, possibly part of a heterogeneous cluster.

This IMO would position FreeBSD for the future.

Maybe go and Kubernetes? Let's not be left behind.


-- 
Cheers,
Cy Schubert <Cy.Schubert at cschubert.com>
FreeBSD UNIX:  <cy at FreeBSD.org>   Web:  http://www.FreeBSD.org

	The need of the many outweighs the greed of the few.