This article takes a deep dive into why containers, cloud, blockchain, and AI are often variations on long-established ideas rather than radical departures. Drawing on enterprise history, open-source culture, and real-world deployment experience, we will unpack why veteran technologists remain skeptical of hype cycles, how enterprise IT keeps reinventing familiar concepts, and what this means for decision-makers navigating today’s technology landscape.
The Veteran Red Hat Perspective on Enterprise Technology
Red Hat has long been synonymous with open-source enterprise software, Linux distributions, and pragmatic engineering. Veterans from this ecosystem have typically lived through multiple hype cycles and seen technologies mature, plateau, and eventually become mundane infrastructure. From this vantage point, the claim that containers, cloud, blockchain, and AI are fundamentally the same ideas is not flippant; it is rooted in historical pattern recognition.A seasoned Red Hatter understands that enterprises rarely adopt technology for novelty.
This is why the phrase “same old BS” resonates. It is not dismissing containers or AI as useless. Rather, it challenges the industry narrative that suggests every new paradigm requires enterprises to discard prior knowledge and rebuild from scratch. In reality, most successful organizations integrate new technologies by mapping them onto familiar operational models.
Containers: Old Virtualization in a New Wrapper
The Long History of Process Isolation
Containers are frequently marketed as a revolutionary way to build and deploy applications. In truth, process isolation and resource control have existed in Unix systems for decades. Technologies such as chroot jails, control groups, and namespaces laid the groundwork long before Docker popularized containers.What containers truly changed was accessibility. They made it easier for developers to package applications with dependencies and run them consistently across environments. This convenience led to widespread adoption, especially in DevOps and cloud-native workflows. Yet from a veteran perspective, containers are simply a more efficient form of virtualization optimized for modern workloads.
Why Containers Feel New but Aren’t
The hype around containers stems from tooling and ecosystem maturity, not conceptual novelty. Orchestration platforms like Kubernetes solved real operational problems, but the underlying goal remained the same: run applications reliably at scale. To an experienced Red Hat engineer, containers represent evolution, not revolution, reinforcing the idea that enterprise computing moves forward through refinement rather than radical reinvention.
Cloud Computing: Time-Sharing Reimagined
From Mainframes to Public Cloud
Cloud computing is often framed as the most disruptive force in modern IT. Yet the concept of centralized computing resources shared among users dates back to mainframes and time-sharing systems. Enterprises once rented compute power by the hour, much like today’s pay-as-you-go cloud models.What changed with cloud computing was economics and reach. The ability to spin up infrastructure globally, on demand, transformed how startups and enterprises plan capacity. Still, the core idea—remote compute accessed over a network—remains unchanged.
The Veteran Critique of Cloud Hype
From a Red Hat veteran’s viewpoint, cloud platforms are powerful but not magical. They shift responsibility rather than eliminate it. Organizations still need architectural discipline, security governance, and operational expertise. The claim that cloud computing simplifies everything often leads to disappointment when costs spiral and complexity resurfaces in new forms.This reinforces the belief that cloud-native technology is less about novelty and more about rediscovering old lessons under new constraints.
Blockchain: Distributed Databases With Extra Steps
The Promise Versus the Reality
Blockchain technology arrived with grand promises of decentralization, trustlessness, and disruption across finance, supply chains, and governance. While cryptocurrencies demonstrated one compelling use case, many enterprise blockchain projects struggled to justify their complexity.Veteran technologists quickly noticed parallels with existing distributed systems. Consensus algorithms, replication, and immutability were not new ideas. They had been studied and implemented in databases and fault-tolerant systems for years.
Why Blockchain Feels Like Familiar Ground
To an experienced Red Hatter, blockchain often looks like a distributed database optimized for adversarial environments. In enterprise settings where trust already exists, the overhead rarely makes sense. This gap between marketing hype and practical value fuels skepticism and supports the claim that blockchain is another iteration of familiar patterns rather than a breakthrough.
Artificial Intelligence: Automation Rebranded
AI’s Deep Roots in Computer Science
Artificial intelligence is currently the loudest buzzword in technology. From machine learning to generative models, AI is portrayed as a fundamental shift in how software is written and decisions are made. Yet AI techniques have been part of computer science for decades, from expert systems to statistical learning models.What changed recently is data availability and compute power. Modern AI systems scale better and perform tasks that once seemed impossible. Still, from a veteran’s perspective, AI is advanced automation, not sentient intelligence.
Why AI Fits the “Same Old BS” Narrative
The concern is not that AI lacks value, but that it is oversold. Enterprises are encouraged to adopt AI everywhere, often without clear use cases or governance strategies. This mirrors earlier waves where new technologies were applied indiscriminately, leading to wasted investment and disillusionment.
Why the Tech Industry Recycles Narratives
Marketing Incentives and Vendor Pressure
Technology vendors thrive on differentiation. Rebranding incremental improvements as transformative innovation helps justify new budgets and renew enterprise spending. Over time, this creates a cycle where familiar ideas are repackaged with new terminology, reinforcing the sense that everything is new even when it isn’t.
Enterprise Fear of Falling Behind
Enterprises fear being labeled obsolete. This fear drives rapid adoption of trends like containers, cloud, blockchain, and AI without sufficient evaluation. Veterans recognize this pattern and caution against conflating modernization with blind adoption.
The Open-Source Reality Check
Pragmatism Over Hype
Open-source communities, particularly those around Red Hat, tend to emphasize practicality. Technologies succeed when they solve real problems, not when they generate headlines. This culture explains why experienced engineers often push back against exaggerated claims.
Continuity as a Strength
Rather than viewing continuity as stagnation, veterans see it as stability. The fact that modern systems build on decades-old principles demonstrates the resilience of foundational computing concepts. Innovation, in this sense, is about refinement and integration rather than constant reinvention.
What Enterprises Should Learn From This Perspective
Focus on Problems, Not Buzzwords
Enterprises benefit most when they adopt technology to solve specific problems. Containers, cloud platforms, blockchain systems, and AI tools all have legitimate use cases. The danger lies in adopting them because they are fashionable rather than necessary.
Build on Existing Knowledge
One of the key lessons from veteran Red Hat engineers is that institutional knowledge matters. New tools should complement existing skills, not discard them. This approach reduces risk and maximizes return on investment.
Conclusion
The claim that containers, cloud, blockchain, and AI are all the same old BS is intentionally provocative, but it carries an important message. From the perspective of a veteran Red Hatter, the technology industry is less about constant disruption and more about continuous evolution. Each new wave refines existing ideas, improves tooling, and expands accessibility, but rarely rewrites the fundamentals of computing.Understanding this continuity empowers enterprises to cut through hype, make informed decisions, and adopt technology with purpose rather than fear. Innovation still matters, but it is most effective when grounded in history, experience, and realistic expectations. In a world obsessed with what’s new, the wisdom of seasoned technologists offers a valuable reminder: progress often looks familiar because it builds on what already works.
FAQs
Q: Why do veteran technologists criticize containers and cloud computing?
They do not criticize their usefulness but challenge the narrative that they are entirely new concepts. Veterans see them as evolutions of long-standing ideas like virtualization and time-sharing.
Q: Is blockchain really just an old idea rebranded?
Many experts view blockchain as a specialized form of distributed systems. While useful in certain contexts, it often duplicates existing solutions with added complexity.
Q: Does calling AI “automation” downplay its importance?
Not necessarily. It reframes AI as a powerful tool rooted in established computer science rather than an entirely new form of intelligence.
Q: Should enterprises ignore technology trends altogether?
No. Enterprises should evaluate trends critically and adopt them when they address real business needs rather than following hype blindly.
Q: What makes the Red Hat perspective unique?
Red Hat’s open-source heritage emphasizes long-term stability, community-driven development, and practical problem-solving, leading to a more grounded view of technological change.