I think this was the original model proposed by Docker. What we have now is (as other posters have mentioned), a Docker organization reasonably bent towards creating value for their investors, which means they need to start building things that, you know, make money.
To clarify, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with what Docker's doing, but it is at odds with an entirely open, pluggable system. It doesn't make any sense for their business model to truly make it easy to just use their containers and none of the revenue-generating offerings.
I've not been following the discussions but if it's such a critical piece of the whole puzzle and it's in everybody's interest that it remains open, wouldn't a foundation, rather than a single private company, be the best venue for leading the project forward?
Then how do you fund that foundation? Good developers cost a ton of money. Marketing, organizing events, organizing conferences etc also costs a ton of money. I think something like Docker, especially given its growth and adoption rate, never would have been possible without VC funding. VCs wouldn't invest in a non-profit foundation.
To clarify, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with what Docker's doing, but it is at odds with an entirely open, pluggable system. It doesn't make any sense for their business model to truly make it easy to just use their containers and none of the revenue-generating offerings.