[AccessD] In training

[Jim Lawrence]

Hi Ryan:

I attempted to install a Bash shell on my Windows10 box but missed the small print...only on 64 bit computers. (I have a number of computers and not being in business anymore, it is a slow and expensive task to move all the boxes to 64bit.) Maybe in a couple of months. ;-)

Microsoft now has its Wine like application, not an emulator but a compatibility layer called WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux). It is so compatible that OS distros like Ubuntu, Fedora and Suse can be installed on Windows. Have not tried it but it sounds so neat.
 
I think that CoreOS is similar to Microsoft's Hyper-V. Both are headless and either the user has to get up to speed at the command prompt or a GUI has to be pasted on...I like a GUI. At the core of both those products is KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine), built into the Linux kernel. With these two products, a company can host and create dozens of Containers at will or just send them on their way. 

Aside: MS copied KVM from Suse Linux about five years ago. I understand that CoreOS is trying to re-brand itself to ContainerOS. Did you know that Microsoft's .Net Core which runs as an editor on all platforms, is basically a Container(?), compiled via the application Electron.Atom: http://electron.atom.io/ ...and the internal development environment is HTML/JavaScript/Chromium/NodeJS...don't ask. ;-)

The beauty of Containers is that, depending on the OS, a person can roll out an application with no concern as to what libraries or DLLs are installed, on the hosting desktop/server. The product to totally self-contained....it will run just like a stand-alone application. Of course Containers are less like an application and more like a whole OS which can have hundreds of features but unlike our virtual drives, which tend to be total pigs, they are very lean and very fast...and can be duplicated, via scripts, within seconds, in the hundreds. Also a remote Container recipient can not hack in and modify the Container, if it is locked.

It would be wonderful, if when we can assemble an Access or VB/.Net/C# application or a mash up of a number of technologies, into a single build, it could then be just be Containerized and then broadcast through out an entire company. Once the hosting desktops are configured, no installation type process necessary, no concerns of dated or missing components, complete stabilization and it would be easy to synchronize all users with, say, daily Container rebuilds. In the event of a system crash, the base OS could first be installed on the desktop and then all the Containers could be pushed across the network or across the internet.

There was a lot of discussions about Cloud deployment and there is so many new applications popping up, virtually daily. "Cloud boot" looks like a very interesting technology-service....http://cloudboot.org/ is this what you are talking about? 

Every business has to carefully figure out how much they are going spend, how much tech is going to be run locally, how much will be run or be stored remotely, how many services will need to be purchased, what level of security is needed, what infra-structure is needed/cost, how that infrastructure will be maintained (will a tech be kept in-house, on contract or can the receptionist be brought up to speed), should some new tech be trusted or is the old tech good enough and after that applications can be remotely accessed, built locally for the desktop or maybe a web-based solution is the answer. Gone are the days, when someone wanted a system upgrade, the question was which Microsoft application will be needed...today MS is just one more ingredient in the stew.

Tech is moving so fast that it leaves me with more questions than answers...but it seems regardless of the need, there is always something out there that is just right.

Jim 
    
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ryan W" <wrwehler at gmail.com>
To: "Access Developers discussion and problem solving" <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 6:08:08 AM
Subject: Re: [AccessD] In training

Very cool. Microsoft is doing some very cool things with Linux now.  You
can run Linux shells on top of Windows 10 now.  They're also working on SQL
Server for Linux that's got what is more or less a Windows emulation layer
in it so that the core code can stay the same and they just emulate what
they need to make it run on Linux.   (Probably a lot like WINE, but more
sophisticated).

Docker is another really neat thing to tinker with.  But I've personally
not seen a benefit for a bazillion little microservices yet and I think
Docker is more or less a buzz word right now that gets people riled up.

Did you get a chance to tinker with any of the "cloud boot" type OSs like
CoreOS?  Those are usually used in conjunction with docker.