The discussion revolves around the potential of WebAssembly (WASM) to replace traditional container technology. Key points include: - **Adoption Barriers**: The primary obstacle to WASM adoption includes limited system interfaces for file access, networking, and other fundamental operations, which should be addressed for fuller implementation. - **Security Concerns**: Adding system interfaces could introduce security vulnerabilities, referencing historical failures of similar technologies like Java. - **Performance and Memory Model**: WASM’s unique memory allocation approach complicates its implementation across different languages, potentially diminishing performance and making it less appealing compared to containers. - **Community Sentiment**: While some believe WASM offers true portability, critics argue it lacks the encapsulation and operational environments that containers provide. - **Future Prospects**: The community remains skeptical about the immediate future of WASM, suspecting it won’t see significant growth in the next five years. Others envision WASM offering benefits for scientific reproducibility in computing. Overall, while WASM presents exciting potential, many believe it will not completely replace container technology due to inherent limitations and existing operational requirements.