VSCode dev containers

[ojeytonwilliams]

The proposal

Dev containers are a promising way to give new contributors a dev environment that minimises the amount they have to configure. We could use these instead of our current "Docker mode".

The pros

A dev container setup should be easier to maintain than our current setup

Docker could be optimised for production without worrying about the dev experience.

The cons

We force people to use VSCode if they want to use this. We could just be moving the maintenance overhead to managing the dev container config.

[allella]

I've not used it, so I don't have a technical opinion.

GitPod seems like the path of least resistance so far, but if this is something that can be setup and automated, then it may be a helpful post-MVP way for helping new contributors that don't want to use Gitpod, Docker, or manual / local modes.

[ojeytonwilliams]

To be honest, I'd prefer to keep the number of supported dev environments the same. If we use dev containers we don't need a Docker dev environment and vice versa.

It simplifies matters if Docker has one job (deployment).