A few days agos Docker released the news that it will limit the use of the free version of its desktop utility to businesses, whereupon the publisher of the solution announces the introduction of a monthly subscription for large companies.
This new arrangement will enter into force on March 1 of next year and it's part of a broader change in Docker's licensing terms, as CEO Scott Johnston continues to plot a change for the container company.
Under Johnston, the remnants of the company have shifted to focus on serving developers building containerized apps, primarily through the Docker Engine container runtime, Hub's image repository, and the desktop app, which is installed on 3.3 million computers at last count.
Docker Desktop is a graphical tool for managing various components and functions Docker, including containers, images, volumes (container-attached storage), containerized development environments, and more. While most of the Docker components are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and despite the fact that most Docker containers run on Linux, the Docker desktop is only available for Windows and Mac.
Platform Docker has several components of which Docker Dektop is only a part. Docker images define the content of containers, Docker containers are executable instances of images, the Docker daemon is a background application that manages and runs Docker images and containers.
For those unfamiliar with the Docker client, you should know that this is a command line utility that calls the Docker daemon API, the Docker logs contain images, and the Docker Hub is a widely used public registry. Much of Docker (but not Desktop) is open source under the Apache v2 license.
To meet these challenges, today we are announcing updates and extensions to our product subscriptions: Personal, Pro, Team, and Business. These updated product subscriptions deliver the productivity and collaboration developers trust with the scale, security, and trusted content businesses require, and they do so in a sustainable way for Docker.
The free plan will be called Personal in the future and from now on, the publisher of the application deployment automation solution will require companies with more than 250 employees (or that make a turnover of more than $ 10 million per year) subscribe to a monthly subscription to continue using Docker Desktop. With this, three options are presented: Pro, Business or Teams for $ 5, 7 or 21 (per user and per month) respectively.
The new Business level of the Docker subscription, just like the previous large version, provides invoice-based pricing, ancillary services, and personalized support. The Business tier, priced at $ 21 per user per month, includes a new feature security presented this week called Image Access Management, along with centralized SaaS management for multiple Docker development environments. Existing large users won't see a price change, but they will get Docker Desktop included with their licenses.
Pro and Team plans will remain the sameWhile large enterprise users, which is an enterprise plan in all but name, will require a paid subscription for additional features like registration restrictions, single sign-on, and secure software supply chain management.
Docker Personal customers will continue to get free access to Desktop, as well as the Docker CLI, Docker Compose, Docker Engine, Docker Hub, and Docker Official Images.
Finally the company did not reveal exactly how many Docker Desktop users will have to buy at least a Pro level subscription to continue. Any Docker Desktop user with a paid Docker subscription will be entitled to the software.
If you are interested in being able to know more about it, you can consult the details in the following link.