7 cool uses for Docker: WINE and tweeting from terminals

Container technology is anything but new, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still figure out some new, cool uses for Docker. Linux containers, otherwise known as LXC, were first to the market on August 6, 2008. They made it possible to run multiple isolated Linux environments on a single Linux host. Docker took that took the next level starting in 2013, and is now the most popular and widely-used container management system. Since Docker is all the rage right now, that’s where we’re going to start.

1. Containerize your own GitHub-like repository

The Microsoft takeover of GitHub made many developers worried over their code and repositories, so much to the point they’re already migrating repositories and code from GitHub to GitLab in a massive surge. Why GitLab? It’s pretty feature-competitive with GitHub, with wiki and issue-tracking features, plus a robust web interface. Even better, it’s open source, which seems to give some of these developers more confidence in the sustainability of their GitLab-hosted code. But it’s not a panacea—GitLab could up and disappear, or change fundamentally, or be acquired by Google or Facebook. The good news is that you can host your own GitHub-like web-based hosting service for version control using Git and Docker within minutes! GitLab already provides a Docker image for the open source community. You can host it in your local environment as well as in the public domain and make use of it without worrying about big-time acquisitions. If you like GitLab, you just might love Gogs, a painless way to self-host a Git service. Its lightweight web interface can be run using the official Docker image, whether as an independent service or behind a more complex self-hosting infrastructure with a reverse proxy. Either way, nothing is stopping you from spinning up an inexpensive VPS to set up your own a Git service using Docker. [cta_inline]

2. Run Windows apps using a Docker/Linux host

Sounds crazy? Yes, it is. You might have already seen how Linux users often “emulate” a Windows application inside a Linux box using WINE. You can now go even further by running a Windows application inside a