Expanding Docker’s Developer Preview Program – Docker Blog

Back in April, we did a limited launch of a Desktop Developer Preview Program, an early access program set up to enable Docker power-users to test, experiment with and provide feedback on new unreleased features on Docker Desktop. The aim was to empower the community to work in lock-step with Docker engineers and help shape our product roadmap.

For this first phase of the program, we limited the program to a small cohort of community members to test the waters and gather learnings as we planned to roll-out a full-fledged program later in the year. 

Today, we’re thrilled to announce the official launch of the program, renaming it the Docker Developer Preview Program and broadening its scope to also include Docker Engine on Linux. 

What are the benefits of joining the program?

First and foremost, this is an opportunity for anyone in the community to help shape and improve the experience of millions of Docker users around the world. As a member, you get direct access to the people who are building our products everyday: our engineering team, product managers, community leads etc… Through the program’s private Slack channel, you get to share your feedback, tell us what is working in our new features and how we could improve, and also help us dig in when something’s really buggy. 

What specific tasks are expected from me if I join? 

All program members meet in our private Slack channel to share, discuss and get updates on new tasks to perform. You’ll be expected to run pre-release builds of Docker Desktop and help us investigate on private builds when we are working on particular issues of features.

We may also need you to stress test all of our new features and tell us what goes wrong. You might even work directly with the engineering team to help us debug issues and get to the bottom of things. Lastly, you will be strongly encouraged to join our monthly engineering briefings on Zoom.

One important point to stress is that the program is 100% voluntary, meaning that if you have time to perform all the tasks, that’s great but if you don’t, that’s also fine! We just want to make sure that everyone who joins is motivated to help. 

Can anyone join the program?

The program is open to everyone who answers yes to the following questions: 

• Do you use Docker on a daily basis?  
• Do you want to have access to features in development, months before they become mainstream? 
• Do you have a high tolerance for occasional functional regressions? 
• Are you looking for an easy but very impactful way to help Docker and its millions of users?

If you answered yes to all the questions above, we’d love for you to apply today!