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    @freakish: That's a weak argument IMNSHO, for several reasons: 1. More often than not, the use of docker is the wrong way to do things, and a way to cut corners rather than properly configure a system to be able to run programs. 2. It is a docker-based solution's responsibility to cater to how programs run, rather than the other way around. 3. At worst, one can wrap a cmdline-based program with a script which converts environment variables to cmdline parameters. Commented May 20 at 18:57
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    There is no question of priority, sensible programs follow order - hardcode, config file, environment, command line. Commented May 20 at 20:08
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    What are good habits for designing command line arguments? - tangentially related Commented May 20 at 20:19
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    @Basilevs While I agree with that override priority in general, I would add that there are some edge cases with config files that are loaded dynamically (not from a static location but due to environment variables or command line options). In extreme cases, where the program arguments are not options but rather commands (that can also be repeated), there might be commands to read files and interpret their contents as further commands - overwriting previous options but then being overwritten by those coming afterwards. Commented May 21 at 0:27
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    @einpoklum whether your software requires docker or not is irrelevant. The point is that docker exists, and is popular solution. Adding support for env variables is not costly at all. Pushing this responsibility elsewhere leads to more difficult project management. And what would be the advantage of doing that? Commented May 21 at 7:20