AWS Open Source Finch Tool Streamlines Container App Development
The open source Finch project from Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides developers with a command line client for building, running and publishing Linux containers.
Initially available on macOS clients, Finch provides developers an extensible installer for open source components such as Lima, nerdctl, containerd and BuildKit that are needed to create and run containers locally and then build and publish Open Container Initiative (OCI) container images.
Finch acts as a passthrough to nerdctl running in a Lima-managed virtual machine. It simplifies the management and installation of all required open source components and their dependencies, eliminating any need for developers to manage dependency updates and fixes. Ultimately, AWS aims to provide developers with a minimal and simple build/run/push/pull experience focused on the core workflow commands.
An AWS account is not required to use Finch, but AWS will provide Finch support under current plans when Finch is used along with AWS services.
Because Finch is integrated directly with nerdctl, so all of the typical commands and options will work the same as on Linux platforms. Developers can pull images from registries, run containers locally and build images using existing Dockerfiles. Finch also enables them to build and run images for either amd64 or arm64 architectures using emulation so developers can build images for either M1 Apple Silicon or Intel-based Mac systems.
With the initial launch, support for volumes and networks is provided, and Docker Compose is supported to run and test multiple container applications. In the future, AWS will also commit to creating versions of Finch for Windows and Linux clients.
The core Finch client will always be a curated distribution composed entirely of open source, vendor-neutral projects to avoid fragmentation. AWS maintains that extensions will be managed as separate projects with their own release cycles to strike a balance for providing specific features while still collaborating within the context of the larger open source community.
As the project evolves, AWS is also committing to making the virtualization component more transparent. That will enable the community to build an instance with a smaller footprint and faster boot times. As of right now, Finch also has no graphical interface and no integrations for cluster management or other container orchestration tools.
David Nalley, head of open source strategy and marketing for AWS, said Finch is the latest in a series of open source initiatives that AWS plans to put more resources behind. Each functional group within AWS is being encouraged to devote more resources to contributing to open source projects. Like every cloud service provider, AWS is often criticized for monetizing open source software even as maintainers complain there are no revenue opportunities left available to them. Some have even gone so far as to change the terms under which their open source software can be licensed to prevent cloud service providers from launching a service based on their open source code. Others, however, will argue those licensing terms are being put forward by companies that are using open source software as a lure to sell enterprise-grade support licenses.
Regardless of how organizations feel about how open source software is maintained and consumed, the one certain thing is that, with some additional help from AWS, there will soon be a lot more of it.
