Hi,
Present were today:
Frank Jonah Matt Peter Steve
The main discussion revolved around using 'docker' as a way to deploy the ET, either at tutorials, or possibly HPC systems (although that would require more work and cooperation).
Docker has its roots in cloud-computing (and is supported by several big players there), and was mentioned in a workshop Erik went to last week. It is a "virtual environment" instead of a "virtual machine". The difference is that unlike in a virtual machine, where an entire host is emulated, only a new 'software environment' is created, while that still runs under the same "host"-OS, using the same kernel. In the end, the user runs stuff (almost) like any other executable.
This tight coupling between docker and the host-kernel is the reason for one possible disadvantage: it runs natively only in linux, and Erik mentions that is is possible to painlessly have it run also on Macs, using a tiny VM to run the linux kernel. Windows is, as far as everyone knew, not directly supported. The way to run docker executables there would be to run them within a regular virtual machine. Also, docker requires a daemon to run that needs root - which might require convincing arguments at HPC centers.
In any case, Erik currently tries to have the ET release run in one of these containers, and will report about his success later on.
Frank