Very very doubtful. You will not be able to run ELF (linux format) executables on windows any more than you'll ever be able to run PE (windows format) executables on Linux.

You'll have 2 hubs, the "windows hub" and the "linux hub".

> You'll have 2 hubs, the "windows hub" and the "linux hub".

This is incorrect.

That said, it's true that Windows won't all of the sudden gain the ability to run ELF.

Well I meant that in the sense that you can't run a windows app on Linux and you can't run a Linux app on windows. Even if it is the same hub, you'd want to filter "by windows" or "by linux" containers is what I meant.

Running boot2docker on windows is sort of cheating in that it is a virtual machine running docker apps and this effort appears to be a native dockerd running on Windows. Thoughts?

I think the UX is slightly more nuanced.

From any machine, you should be able to `docker run` any application, and docker will be smart enough to find (or create!) the best place run it.

The base pieces of the lego are currently in flight in Docker proper to enable this, with great tools built around the Docker API for more advanced topics (like clustering and scheduling)

> Running boot2docker on windows is sort of cheating in that it is a virtual machine running docker apps and this effort appears to be a native dockerd running on Windows.

I wouldn't say it's cheating. If your target is all linux machines, you need a cheap, local, efficient way of developing and testing those applications. Boot2Docker is an option (but not the only one - you could use a cloud service, internal vm infra, etc. etc.)

Love the dialogue - keep it coming.

Ok so I read that as you saying:

If you're running docker on windows and you try to run a linux container, it will magically start boot2docker and start your linux container inside that vm if you are running on a windows box.

Now if that is true, my question would be: How do you boot2windows for windows docker images when you can't freely distribute a windows vm?

As I think both being able to support both would be amazing, I don't see how it fits into the current scheme of things.

> If you're running docker on windows and you try to run a linux container, it will magically start boot2docker and start your linux container inside that vm if you are running on a windows box.

Maybe! Or you've used something like the new `docker hosts` feature, which could create a new instance for you on any infrastructure provider. Or you could be pointing to a boot2docker node, etc.

> Now if that is true, my question would be: How do you boot2windows for windows docker images when you can't freely distribute a windows vm?

I don't have a good answer for this, as we do not have a boot2windows product or announcement (I assume this is the opposite case, if you have a linux machine and want to run a windows image)

My guess instead is you'd be pointing to a set of infrastructure that can find (or create) Windows Docker Hosts and it would run there.

I'm excited to see what the future brings! Can't wait to see some of the service discovery stuff like you can build with etcd and consul make it into libswarm.

Not libswarm, docker proper.

See https://github.com/bfirsh/docker/tree/host-management

There's also a relevant thread on the docker-dev mailing list

So Windows will be able to run Docker containers built using a Linux image, and Linux will be able to run Docker containers built using a Windows image?

Using a VM, yes. But nothing fundamentally changes about their ability to execute cross platform natively.

from reading the other replies in this read (and the above) it seems that the next windows server release will have ability to run both linux and windows containers.

that sounds promising...

wrong, read it all again!

You can do the latter with Wine. Unfortunately, there's no "Line" equivalent on Windows.

I'd love to partner with Steam (or:Origin) on something like this.

I actually got unofficial approval to push my League of Legends linux image to the hub, which is an absolutely PITA to get installed right. I may do that; I don't play enough to maintain it.

Could you try reaching out to GoG.com as well? They have been pushing Linux gaming lately, but I have run into uneven support for their titles. It seems that if the dev gives them a tarball, thats all they use, while other titles they package. I have been having a tough time getting Shadowrun Returns up and running and it would be awesome to just grab the image.

What do you mean by get approval? Isn't LoL F2P? Did you have to get approval from the creator or Docker?

> Could you try reaching out to GoG.com as well?

Great idea. I will definitely reach out.

> What do you mean by get approval? Isn't LoL F2P?

Just because it's F2P doesn't mean I have a license to distribute it.

> Did you have to get approval from the creator or Docker?

Docker is an open source project. So, in effect, all contributors (including me!) are creators of Docker :)

email me, johnv at valvesoftware.com, and we can discuss it

Will do!

there are already steam/csgo docker images.. what would a partnership change?

I didn't know that. Pretty cool.

We're only looking at Windows Server for now