Seems like only a year ago Docker changed how it used Virtualbox to boot VMs using machine (and caused me endless amounts of suffering trying to figure out how to fix it). Now it would seem they are getting rid of Virtualbox entirely with their own VM...which needs contributions.
getting rid of Virtualbox entirely with their own VM...
Not really. This builds heavily upon Hypervisor.framework, which is included in new OS X versions. Hypervisor.framework is pretty cool, because it allows for building VM applications that are sandboxed and don't require kernel modules. As a result, Hypervisor.framework applications can even be distributed via the App Store (see e.g. Veertu).
The drawback is that now VM manager is at mercy of what Hypervisor.framework provides. For example, Veertu does not support redirection of USB devices into VM because the framework does not support it. That makes it rather useless for my usage and I stick with VirtualBox for now.
Of cause, this is not an issue for Docker as the framework covers all its needs.
Have your encountered any major bugs with Docker for OSX? I've been running docker-machine without any major issues for months but have noticed in the last few weeks that I need to reboot the VM lately due to weird caching issues.
I had it crash a couple times when it printed lots of text from the container to the terminal. I haven't had that happen since the update from today, though.
Docker is still pretty bleeding edge, and was never designed to work with Mac OS X or Windows from the get-go.
The fact that the proposed experience for OS X and Windows is so good is a testament to how hard the community and the Docker team have been working! It's natural that there would be some growing pains.
My understanding is not great, but it looks like they're bypassing a host VM entirely and using a shim (HyperKit) to talk to whatever virtualization the underlying OS supplies.