Containers & Docker
The author debunks the claim that AWS Fargate uses Firecracker for per-container microVMs, arguing that Fargate does not rely on Firecracker in the way marketing suggests. He cites official Firecracker and AWS documentation to illustrate the actual architectural choices (e.g., containerd, VM-based isolation) and emphasizes the operational trade-offs and misleading perceptions around Fargate. The piece aims to set realistic expectations for users evaluating serverless container options on AWS.
General
IP fragmentation and path MTU discovery are more complex in practice than many networking experts assume. The article introduces fragquiz as a learning tool, details a novel parallel PMTU probing algorithm, and discusses real-world testing challenges, including ICMP behavior, OS differences, and VPN implications, highlighting why reliable PMTUD remains critical for VPNs, IPv6, and overall network reliability.
Eric Niebler argues for adopting a standard async model in C++ through senders/receivers (P2300), illustrating how a traditional callback API can be wrapped into a sender to enable…
Development
The article introduces safe-gc, a Rust garbage collector implemented with zero unsafe code. It explains the API (Gc<T>, Root<T>, Trace) and the architecture (Heap, Arena, RootSet), and discusses design trade-offs, including a look at a copying collector and reasons for choosing a mark-and-sweep approach for heterogeneous objects. It emphasizes safety benefits of avoiding unsafe blocks and outlines potential footguns and safeguards.