>I install node, postgres, and redis natively and it all works fine. What benefits does docker provide to my workflow?
Isn't it obvious?
With docker (or vagrant, or at least a VM etc) you can have the SAME environment as the deployment one. If you run OS X or Windows your direct local installs with differ in numerous ways to your deployment. And same if you run Linux but not the same distro or the same release.
And that's just the start.
Who said you'd be working in only one deployment/app at the time? If you need two different environments -- it could be even while working on version 2.0 of the same web app with new technologies--, e.g. one with Node 4 and one with Node 5, or a different postgres version, etc, you suddenly have to juggle all of these in your desktop OS.
Now you need to add custom ways to switch between them (e.g. can't have 2 postgres running on the same port at the same time), some will be incompatible to install together etc.
Without a vm/docker you also don't have snapshots (stored versions of the whole system installed, configured, and "frozen")...
Isn't it obvious?
With docker (or vagrant, or at least a VM etc) you can have the SAME environment as the deployment one. If you run OS X or Windows your direct local installs with differ in numerous ways to your deployment. And same if you run Linux but not the same distro or the same release.
And that's just the start.
Who said you'd be working in only one deployment/app at the time? If you need two different environments -- it could be even while working on version 2.0 of the same web app with new technologies--, e.g. one with Node 4 and one with Node 5, or a different postgres version, etc, you suddenly have to juggle all of these in your desktop OS.
Now you need to add custom ways to switch between them (e.g. can't have 2 postgres running on the same port at the same time), some will be incompatible to install together etc.
Without a vm/docker you also don't have snapshots (stored versions of the whole system installed, configured, and "frozen")...