Boot speed is a big selling point for Docker, but Docker's isolation story is poorer than a VM. If you can make a VM boot as quickly as Docker while preserving isolation, then Docker loses a big selling point.
I'm a huge fan of Illumos and SmartOS and think that Zones + LX Branding are a far superior technology than the hodgepodge of cgroups + namespaces + userland container technology. HOWEVER---the amount of driver support in the OpenSolaris forks, the awful package management system, the ancient IPF system etcetera make it a non-starter for most environments. I have used SmartOS in production (along with the Triton ecosystem) and found it to be well thought out and compelling, albeit woefully immature and buggy.
I think that these reasons, plus the EOL nature of Solaris "upstream", would easily put off most people in charge of making a long term technology commitment. I know it did for me.
Well, you are right, but remember how old SmartOS actually is... I kinda hope more people get it, and start investing into that amazing open source technology. I always liked BSDs and Solaris more than Linux (who I find really messy and chaotic).
Solaris as an upstream was dead long ago; Oracle stopped publishing source years before killing their own product. The heirs of opensolaris seem to have managed well enough
