Re: Docker Hub requires nonfree software to log in

[Ted Zlatanov <tzz@lifelogs.com>]

On Mon, 30 Jan 2017 22:34:23 -0500 Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> wrote: 

>> I think you're confusing two things: Docker Hub as a web site (which
>> requires nonfree software to use during *setup*) and Docker Hub as an
>> image repository (which requires nothing but Docker itself, it's like a
>> package repository with automated builds per package). They may talk to
>> the same backend databases, but they are not the same thing.

RS> This is the first I heard of the distinction.

I think many of us assumed we were talking about the same thing. Sorry
if I added to the confusion.

RS> A concrete practical question: does it work to prepare and upload
RS> images without running nonfree JS code?

RS> If so, we can go ahead and upload images.

Yes, correct. Just think of it as a package repository with automated
builds. You can upload your own package, built locally. That's what we
may do for the Guix images, if the Guix developers are interested.

>> Building an alternative to Docker Hub is an interesting proposition, but
>> not a blocker to this work.

RS> That seems to be a misunderstanding -- I didn't propose we do that,
RS> only that we distribute our Emacs images from some FSF server.  The
RS> image is just a file, right?

Docker images are distributed as checksummed (and optionally signed)
layers, so you don't have to download layers you already have locally.
They can also be distributed as archives but that's a lot more expensive
because all the layers have to be downloaded. So it's a little more
complicated than just serving files.

RS> So we can distribute it any way that we distribute other files, right?

We can distribute archives as files, but that's suboptimal.

We can also set up a FSF Docker repository that serves checksummed
signed layers just like Docker Hub. It would be a nice Savannah add-on.
But it's not a blocker to putting Emacs on Docker Hub, since the
"official GNU Emacs Docker image" can live in multiple places, and the
goal is to make it available to the users.

Ted