"Operating System Containers" vs "system container" (documentation bug)

[gafarma89]

1

Source:
https://developers.redhat.com/blog/2018/02/22/container-terminology-practical-introduction

it writes:

• "Operating System Containers" are container which includes multiple processes. (see: "Operating System Containers" section)

• "system containers" are the containers which runs before the docker daemon is running. (see: "System Containers" section)

2

Source:
https://docs.jelastic.com/what-are-system-containers

it writes:

• "Operating System Containers" and "system container" are same. (See: the first sentence)

3

source:
https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux_atomic_host/7/html/managing_containers/running_system_containers

• the term "Operating System Containers" does not exist.

• and "system container" are the containers which runs before the docker daemon is running.

documentation bug

On this page https://docs.jelastic.com/what-are-system-containers wites that those are same (on the first sentence). But they are different terms.

Please inform me, If I'm wrong.

Thank you

[sych74]

@gafarma89, thank you for the request. It's not clear why Red Hat added this unnecessary confusion. LXC main page clearly states the same as Jelastic:

Our main focus is system containers. That is, containers which offer an environment as close as possible as the one you'd get from a VM but without the overhead that comes with running a separate kernel and simulating all the hardware.

Also there are additional references:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LXC

LXC (Linux Containers) is an operating-system-level virtualization method for running multiple isolated Linux systems (containers) on a control host using a single Linux kernel.

LXD is system container manager.

https://containerjournal.com/features/system-containers-vs-application-containers-difference-matter/

A container that runs a full OS is a system container.

LXD is much older than Docker or Atomic, so we believe the one who first coined the term is the source of definition.

[sych74]

@fatherlinux, can you please clarify the difference between LXC system containers definition and Red Hat system containers definition? People get confused.

[fatherlinux]

Let me take a look Monday. Our Container Terminology article is in need of an update. It "may" have just been a point I. Time thing that felt right at the time. Given my quick gut feeling in 2020, nobody is using either of those terms anymore in the Docker/Podman world. That said, I need to research more and also looks t a way of moving our Container Terminology document to something more sustainable for PRs!