Docker is great, when you’re not working with Windows. I, however, am.
Windows is my host machine, and keeping Git and related tools up to date on it is a pain. Keeping my configuration inside the VM keeps all my development efforts 100% separate from the host, meaning I can not only rely on the VM to have the most up to date tools I need at any time on any machine, but also that I can just grab the vagrant folder and take it somewhere with me.
If I were able to run docker on Windows without a middle-step like boot2docker or similar, then yes, things would probably look different. But when I take into consideration the various OS differences, I come to the conclusion that the average effort to get started is lowest when using this approach of mine. That’s not to say this isn’t to change as the technologies evolve, but currently, this is the setup I’ve found works instantly and trouble-free for the greatest number of people. I’ve yet to see any complaints about it.
You are right, however, that these should be added to the global gitignore inside the VM. I will make an effort to do so in the next release of Homestead Improved, thanks for the suggestion.