Nearly a year after its introduction, LXD is finally coming of age. Canonical Ltd. will include the homegrown virtualization engine in the new version of its popular Linux flavor that is launching tomorrow as the default option for running containers in an effort to draw some attention away from the competition.

Docker Inc. single-handedly put containerization on the industry’s radar a few years ago with its namesake framework and has reigned as the poster child of the movement that formed around the technology in the proceeding years ever since, garnering a massive following along the way. The startup has every advantage save one, which Canonical is now exploiting to the fullest.

Ubuntu is one of the few open-source projects today with an even bigger presence than Docker, ranking as the most widely deployed operating system on the engine by a massive margin. More importantly for Canonical’s purposes, it’s also the most popular Linux flavor in the OpenStack ecosystem, which it’s planning to make into a beachhead for LXD.

The timing is key:  For all the interest surrounding Docker, containers are still a good number of years away from replacing conventional virtualization technologies in the traditional enterprise. The only setting where the technology is seeing any substantial adoption today is among nimble tech startups and equally savvy global enterprises, which are the same organizations deploying OpenStack.

Canonical hopes that making LXD available in Ubuntu 15.10 out of the box will prompt those early adopters to give its engine more consideration, if for no other reason than the simple fact that it’s immediately accessible whereas Docker has to be manually downloaded. But just for good measure, the Linux distributor is further sweetening the value proposition with an OpenStack automation tool that is rolling out in conjunction.

Autopilot promises to simplify the notoriously difficult task of setting up the cloud framework along with some of the chores involved in the ongoing management of clusters. Should the combination of the tool and LXD prove sufficient to land Canonical some of the big-name enterprises adopting OpenStack as users, the company will find itself in a much stronger position to monetize the container craze when traditional enterprises start joining the bandwagon.

Photo via druckfuchs