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So basically a full circle on running single binary executable processes, a multitude of them, as was done on a UNIX system back in the '90's, only with more complexity (this effort is an attempt to reduce that complexity, which in and of itself is telling).

And still nowhere near the flexibility, security, the power and simplicity of illumos zones and SMF.

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Well, you can't statically link bunch of python scripts. With this one you can do it easily (relatively).

Freezing python scripts+runtime to generate static executables has long been possible. Of course, all such methods are specific to python and have python-specific caveats. One could say static-containerisation is just a general form of the practice of freezing runtimes with scripts.

For Python and other interpreters one does not need containers. LD_PRELOAD and similar hacks is sufficient to redirect reading of script files into reading from a file system embedded into the executable.

LD_PRELOAD in combination with LD_LIBRARY_PATH is meant to be used by a programmer debugging and testing his or her own shared object library, not for using software in production.

By "similar hacks" I meant something like embedding a custom loader into a fully static binary that runs the interpreter and loads its libraries from the embedded filesystem while patching libc calls.

Why would you bother with such difficult and fragile hacks when you could instead simply have the kernel itself remap those file-related calls with a mount namespace or chroot?

Why would you invlove the kernel at all, since you have access to Python's code itself, and can just make your own version of python, that will source files from wherever you want. And your package will be protable to Windows, too.

Yes you can: eggs and wheels.

Still needs Python itself.

Exactly. Collectively we solved the same problem again by introducing many more layers of abstraction and complexity. The levels of abstraction between what appears to be happening and what is really happening grows. When your app is down in prod, simple and easy to understand has benefits.

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