Ask HN: Why is virtualization still not solved?
I use a MacBook Air M1 as my dev laptop, and I just wanted to have a reproducible dev environment running Debian.
My options: use devcontainer, or use a VM on Virtualbox, VMWare, Parallels, UTM, etc.
VSCode & Typescript gets messed up every now and then, such that they don't work and I simply can't continue with them. Not sure why, but I think there are weird internal bugs in those that surface whenever there is some special combination of circumstances on my machine. With devcontainer I think VSCode still runs directly on my machine but connects to the container, so this is nto a solution for me, I need a real VM.
So I try VirtualBox first. After spending hours installing Debian on a VM and getting it running nicely, within a short time the VM slows to a crawl. Nothing I do reliably fixes this. I also cannto get the display resolution to behave properly. I give up on VirtualBox, again (I keep trying this every few years forgetting why I don't use VirtualBox)
Next, I want to try VMWare, only to find out it is sold to Broadcom, and when I follow the link to their page, I'm supposed to log in to download, and yet I see no way to register. Oh well.
Next, I try Parallels. After getting a Debian VM running on it, I marvel at how smoothly it works. I'm in the trial, but I'm not going to have a problem paying up if everything goes on well. Alas, it was too good to be true. I start to to have random loss of internet connectivity (weirdly affecting the terminal only) in the VM. I see that the default networking mode is shared networking. I read guides online suggesting to switch to bridged networking. After spending oodles of time setting up the firewall and other security configuration on the VM and switching to bridged networking, I'm still having intermittent connectivity issues. it seems they are even worse now. Suddenly I remember again why I don't have a Parallels subscription after all these years.
Frustrated, I finally give up. I ruefully remember that UTM also has similar performance and screen display problems as VirtualBox.
So what options are left? I can't really physically install a dual-boot Linux on my Macbook (Asahi notwithstanding, since I only want Debian). Maybe I could sign up for a cloud VPS and use that. Or just buy new AMD mini PCs and run Debian on those. Either way, it's clear the virtualization story, after decades of supposed tech advancement, is still a bitter one.