This document discusses approaches to containerizing operating systems and development environments to automate software project setup and decrease onboarding time. It analyzes different layers involved in coding (project source, libraries, OS packages, OS, device) and whether their setup is declarative. Containerizing the OS and using tools like Docker, Nix, and containerized dev environments can automate previously manual setup steps and ensure consistency across environments. Fully automated solutions include using online IDE services while bringing your own browser and device.

1. Containerized IDEs, and other
Local As Code techniques
Jan Van Bruggen
Developer Relations @ itopia

2. Let’s talk about coding, in general
● Defining my terms:
○ “Coding” == Editing lines of code in software and testing results
○ “Device” == Hardware used when coding (Ex: a Mac Mini, a Chromebook, an eGPU, etc.)
○ “Local” == Software running locally when coding (Ex: IDE, CLIs, compilers, web browsers, etc.)
○ “Project” == A team codebase with…
■ necessary dependencies (libraries, OS packages, OS, etc.)
■ recommended helpers (plugins, IDE settings, shell aliases, etc.)
● Some project dependencies & helpers have declarative config files.
○ .idea/ .vscode/ .editorconfig .eslintrc .gitignore .prettierrc.json go.mod package-lock.json
package.json pom.xml requirements.txt tsconfig.json yarn.lock …
● Some don’t.
○ “See README.md for step-by-step instructions on how to…”

3. Before you can start coding, you need… (on most projects)
Version-controlled? Setup process
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 One command: git clone
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 One command: npm install
(or pip / maven / cargo / etc.)
📦 OS packages ❌ No 🛠 Manually install & configure
(follow docs, maybe scripts)
🐧 OS ❌ No 🛠 Manually install & configure
(follow docs)
💻 Device N/A N/A

4. What is the source of truth for each layer?
Version-controlled? Setup process
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 One command: git clone
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 One command: npm install
(or pip / maven / cargo / etc.)
📦 OS packages ❌ No 🛠 Manually install & configure
(follow docs, maybe scripts)
🐧 OS ❌ No 🛠 Manually install & configure
(follow docs)
💻 Device N/A N/A
Local As Documentation
Local As Code

5. The point of this webinar
Version-controlled? Setup process
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 One command: git clone
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 One command: npm install
(or pip / maven / cargo / etc.)
📦 OS packages ❌ No 🛠 Manually install & configure
(follow docs, maybe scripts)
🐧 OS ❌ No 🛠 Manually install & configure
(follow docs)
💻 Device N/A N/A
by automating project setup.
Decrease project onboarding time

6. Let’s automate!
Version-controlled? Setup process Solutions
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 One command: git clone N/A
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 One command: npm install
(or pip / maven / cargo / etc.)
N/A
📦 OS packages ❌ No 🛠 Manually install & configure
(follow docs, maybe scripts)
?
🐧 OS ❌ No 🛠 Manually install & configure
(follow docs)
?
💻 Device N/A N/A N/A

7. OS Packages As Code is tricky but high-value
Version-controlled? Setup process Solutions
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 One command: git clone N/A
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 One command: npm install
(or pip / maven / cargo / etc.)
N/A
📦 OS packages ? ? ?
🐧 OS ❌ No 🛠 Manually install & configure
(follow docs)
?
💻 Device N/A N/A N/A

8. Nix is a great tool for most projects
Version-controlled? Setup process Solutions
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 One command: git clone N/A
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 One command: npm install
(or pip / maven / cargo / etc.)
N/A
📦 OS packages ✅ Yes: *.nix file(s) 👍 One command: nix-shell Nix
github.com/NixOS/nix
🐧 OS ❌ No 🛠 Manually install & configure
(follow docs)
?
💻 Device N/A N/A N/A

9. OS As Code can be both liberating and restrictive
Version-controlled? Setup process Solutions
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 One command: git clone N/A
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 One command: npm install
(or pip / maven / cargo / etc.)
N/A
📦 OS packages ✅ Yes: *.nix file(s) 👍 One command: nix-shell Nix
github.com/NixOS/nix
🐧 OS ? ? ?
💻 Device N/A N/A N/A

10. Two orthogonal solutions
Version-controlled? Setup process Solutions
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 One command: git clone N/A
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 One command: npm install
(or pip / maven / cargo / etc.)
N/A
📦 OS packages ✅ Yes: *.nix file(s) 👍 One command: nix-shell Nix
github.com/NixOS/nix
🐧 OS ? ? Containerization
or NixOS (nixos.org)
💻 Device N/A N/A N/A

11. Containerization is accessible and popular, but NixOS isn’t
Version-controlled? Setup process Solutions
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 One command: git clone N/A
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 One command: npm install
(or pip / maven / cargo / etc.)
N/A
📦 OS packages ✅ Yes: *.nix file(s) 👍 One command: nix-shell Nix
github.com/NixOS/nix
🐧 OS ? ? Containerization
or NixOS (nixos.org)
💻 Device N/A N/A N/A

12. Containerization adds an OS and can install OS packages
Version-controlled? Setup process Solutions
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 git clone N/A
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 npm install / pip / maven … N/A
📦 OS packages ✅ Yes: *.nix file(s) 👍 nix-shell Nix (optional)
🐧 Project OS ✅ Yes: Dockerfile ? Docker
👁 IDE interface N/A ? ?
🍎 Device OS Unnecessary 👍 Bring your own device N/A
💻 Device N/A N/A N/A

13. Short tangent: Personalization matters, too
Version-controlled? Setup process Solutions
💅 Personalization ? ? ?
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 git clone N/A
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 npm install / pip / maven … N/A
📦 OS packages ✅ Yes: *.nix file(s) 👍 nix-shell Nix (optional)
🐧 Project OS ✅ Yes: Dockerfile ? Docker
👁 IDE interface N/A ? ?
🍎 Device OS Unnecessary 👍 Bring your own device N/A
💻 Device N/A N/A N/A

14. Personalization is about dotfiles (see github.com/webpro/awesome-dotfiles)
Version-controlled? Setup process Solutions
💅 Personalization ✅ Yes: dotfiles 👍 chezmoi init myusername chezmoi (chezmoi.io)
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 git clone N/A
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 npm install / pip / maven … N/A
📦 OS packages ✅ Yes: *.nix file(s) 👍 nix-shell Nix (optional)
🐧 Project OS ✅ Yes: Dockerfile ? Docker
👁 IDE interface N/A ? ?
🍎 Device OS Unnecessary 👍 Bring your own device N/A
💻 Device N/A N/A N/A

15. Containerized OS approach #1: Offline (easy)
Version-controlled? Setup process Solutions
💅 Personalization ✅ Yes: dotfiles 👍 chezmoi init myusername chezmoi
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 git clone N/A
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 npm install / pip / maven … N/A
📦 OS packages ✅ Yes: *.nix file(s) 👍 nix-shell Nix (optional)
🐧 Project OS (guest) ✅ Yes: Dockerfile 🛠 Manually install & configure Docker Desktop
👁 IDE interface N/A 🛠 Manually install IDE with… …guest OS support
🍎 Device OS (host) Unnecessary 👍 Bring your own device N/A
💻 Device N/A N/A N/A

16. Containerized OS approach #2: Hybrid (medium)
Version-controlled? Setup process Solutions
💅 Personalization ✅ Yes: dotfiles 👍 chezmoi init myusername chezmoi
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 git clone N/A
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 npm install / pip / maven … N/A
📦 OS packages ✅ Yes: *.nix file(s) 👍 nix-shell Nix (optional)
🐧 Project OS (remote) ✅ Yes: Dockerfile 🛠 Manually deploy a server Docker on a server
👁 IDE interface N/A 🛠 Manually install IDE with… …remote OS support
🍎 Device OS (local) Unnecessary 👍 Bring your own device N/A
💻 Device N/A N/A N/A

17. Containerized OS approach #3: Online (medium)
Version-controlled? Setup process Solutions
💅 Personalization ✅ Yes: dotfiles 👍 chezmoi init myusername chezmoi
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 git clone N/A
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 npm install / pip / maven … N/A
📦 OS packages ✅ Yes: *.nix file(s) 👍 nix-shell Nix (optional)
🐧 Project OS (remote) ✅ Yes: Dockerfile 🛠 Manually deploy a server code-server or
JetBrains Projector
👁 IDE interface N/A 👍 Bring your own web browser N/A
🍎 Device OS (local) Unnecessary 👍 Bring your own device N/A
💻 Device N/A N/A N/A

18. Containerized OS approach #4: Online & scalable (hard)
Version-controlled? Setup process Solutions
💅 Personalization ✅ Yes: dotfiles 👍 chezmoi init myusername chezmoi
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 git clone N/A
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 npm install / pip / maven … N/A
📦 OS packages ✅ Yes: *.nix file(s) 👍 nix-shell Nix (optional)
🐧 Project OS (remote) ✅ Yes: Dockerfile 🛠 Manually deploy Kubernetes Selkies (selkies.io)
👁 IDE interface N/A 👍 Bring your own web browser N/A
🍎 Device OS (local) Unnecessary 👍 Bring your own device N/A
💻 Device N/A N/A N/A

19. Containerized OS approach #5: Online & managed (easy)
Version-controlled? Setup process Solutions
💅 Personalization ✅ Yes: dotfiles 👍 chezmoi init myusername chezmoi
📄 Project source ✅ Yes 👍 git clone N/A
📁 Third-party libraries ✅ Yes 👍 npm install / pip / maven … N/A
📦 OS packages ✅ Yes: *.nix file(s) 👍 nix-shell Nix (optional)
🐧 Project OS (remote) ✅ Yes: Dockerfile 🤷 “Manually” sign up itopia Spaces or
GitHub Codespaces
👁 IDE interface N/A 👍 Bring your own web browser N/A
🍎 Device OS (local) Unnecessary 👍 Bring your own device N/A
💻 Device N/A N/A N/A

20. Thanks for watching!
👋
JVanBruggen@itopia.com
JanCVanB@ on GitHub & Twitter
⛅
itopiaSpaces.com
github.com/itopia-inc
🦭
github.com/selkies-project
discord.com/invite/wDNGDeSW5F