Eh, kitematic doesn't really do much in my experience, it's just a GUI over docker. It's just one of those things where they would have eventually made a GUI anyway, why not just try to grab the best one at the moment if they can?
It also doesn't feel like owning the ecosystem to me because someone else could (and I'd wager that a handful will) make a new GUI that becomes more popular than kitematic.
If you read between the lines "not trying to own the ecosystem" is just business talk for "we want ya'll to feel safe about buying into the thing we've built, so at the end of the road when we own the ecosystem, the checks go out to us". There's nothing wrong with that, as long as you understand what they mean.
Remember that Docker is a funded business, that has an obligation to its investors.
Docker is trying to be the center of the universe, just as SAP tries to do so beyond core applications with integration, monitoring, BI, systems, etc... Perhaps in the very long run this strategy could pay off, but I believe a lot of valuable companies will be created that focus on the gaps and really nail them in a focused manner.
I'm guessing the thinking was more along the lines of "hey, this is a cool tool that makes using docker easier. the crew who built it really love docker and have great expertise. let's bring them in and give them more resources to make docker even better."
I thought Docker wanted to be "just Docker" and not leverage all the tools and stacks which can or cannot be used with Docker? There is absolutely nothing wrong with the fist, but I am pretty sure Docker was pushing itself as "just Docker". All their latest acquisitions don't really reflect the image they want to portray.
I don't get the advantage of that image, though. It makes sense for them to acquire things that make it easier to get started with Docker. I wouldn't be surprised if they acquired Panamax too.
Definitely some neat features here which will help people who need to use Docker but can't use the command line.
For example, when you click the 'Terminal' button on a running container, it automatically starts a docker-exec command in that container for you, which is handy.
For people checking it out today, note that it creates its own boot2docker VM, even if you have one on your system already. So Kitematic won't be able to see any of the images or containers you have running through your other boot2docker VM.
Sure, copyrights are still in effect and can be sold to other parties. One reason holding copyright over open source code is important is license enforcement. The benefits of holding copyright over code is why the FSF wants copyrights assigned to them [1].
The code is there for everyone (who respects the license), but you also buy the brand, the name, the guys working on the project (aka talent acquisition)...
