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This is a dumb question, but you're talking about using docker, right? Doesn't docker spin up an entire vm for containers? That does seem pretty heavy for a MBA

This is a dumb question, but you're talking about using docker, right? Doesn't docker spin up an entire vm for containers? That does seem pretty heavy for a MBA of any generation?

hobofan 7y ago
> Doesn't docker spin up an entire vm for containers? (It generally does not. Instead it uses more lightweight isolation primtives. That has always been one of its main selling points.) EDIT: see reply > That does seem pretty heavy for a MBA of any generation? It very much depends on what you are running inside the containers. I regularly have a dev environment with ~8 relatively lightweight containers running on my Early 2014 MBA without any problems.
- mikewhy 7y ago
  Docker for Mac very much uses a VM. It's as lightweight as it can be (using the OS-supplied hypervisor, not something third party), but still a VM.
- ecnahc515 7y ago
  The context is on MacOS. Docker is a Linux technology, it runs Linux containers, thus it requires a Linux VM to run Docker on a Mac.
qayxc 7y ago
It's not a VM, which is the point of docker in the first place. I agree, though, that it's next to unusable on a low-power dual-core system like the MBA if only for limited RAM.
- mcpeepants 7y ago
  docker on mac does indeed leverage a VM as the docker host, since a Linux kernel is required
  - qayxc 7y ago
    To my understanding Docker doesn't do hardware virtualisation and doesn't run indiviual VMs per container instance, though, or does it?
    - mcpeepants 7y ago
      it does not, but there is still some overhead running a single linux VM for the docker host on macOS
menssen 7y ago
It's almost impressive that Docker-on-macOS works so seamlessly that people are downvoting this comment. Yes, Docker containers run in a Linux VM on macOS. It's just one though, and generally seems fine on low resource workstations, unlike Vagrant setups from a few years ago that tried to run a VM for every application.

This is a dumb question, but you're talking about using docker, right? Doesn't docker spin up an entire vm for containers? That does seem pretty heavy for a MBA of any generation?

hobofan 7y ago

> Doesn't docker spin up an entire vm for containers? (It generally does not. Instead it uses more lightweight isolation primtives. That has always been one of its main selling points.) EDIT: see reply > That does seem pretty heavy for a MBA of any generation? It very much depends on what you are running inside the containers. I regularly have a dev environment with ~8 relatively lightweight containers running on my Early 2014 MBA without any problems.

mikewhy 7y ago
Docker for Mac very much uses a VM. It's as lightweight as it can be (using the OS-supplied hypervisor, not something third party), but still a VM.
ecnahc515 7y ago
The context is on MacOS. Docker is a Linux technology, it runs Linux containers, thus it requires a Linux VM to run Docker on a Mac.

qayxc 7y ago

It's not a VM, which is the point of docker in the first place. I agree, though, that it's next to unusable on a low-power dual-core system like the MBA if only for limited RAM.

mcpeepants 7y ago
docker on mac does indeed leverage a VM as the docker host, since a Linux kernel is required
- qayxc 7y ago
  To my understanding Docker doesn't do hardware virtualisation and doesn't run indiviual VMs per container instance, though, or does it?
  - mcpeepants 7y ago
    it does not, but there is still some overhead running a single linux VM for the docker host on macOS

menssen 7y ago

It's almost impressive that Docker-on-macOS works so seamlessly that people are downvoting this comment. Yes, Docker containers run in a Linux VM on macOS. It's just one though, and generally seems fine on low resource workstations, unlike Vagrant setups from a few years ago that tried to run a VM for every application.