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"you're on your own" is like, the expected thing when you are doing something different. Still, Alpine is on top of everyone else when it comes to Docker Image

"you're on your own" is like, the expected thing when you are doing something different. Still, Alpine is on top of everyone else when it comes to Docker Images sizes. Thats why it will stick.

traceroute66 5y ago
> "you're on your own" is like, the expected thing when you are doing something different. Indeed. And that's fine. As long as you're willing to support that difference. But the "Alpine compiling XYZ against musl" thing is/was just being done blindly by Alpine (i.e. load X into auto-build and let it rip). Sure it compiled without errors. But it never ran properly.
- encryptluks2 5y ago
  I've rarely had issues and if I do there is a process to report them to get them fixed. Not yet mad and act like the entire distro is worthless because I can't be bothered with reporting an issue for something that is already free. I've had less issues with Alpine than I've had with software on Windows.
qbasic_forever 5y ago
If you care about image size you need to switch to a distroless image base. It's incredibly easy nowadays with multi-stage builds. IMHO people use alpine not because they seek it out but because they're reading old guides and advice that hasn't been updated with the times. Blindly switching to alpine to save space is opening yourself up to exactly these sorts of musl-libc quirks and issues--you better have solid test coverage and a plan to make sure there aren't unexpected edge cases.
- encryptluks2 5y ago
  There are a lot of tools that simply can't run distroless and adding in all the requirements is often tedious with little reward.
  - bogomipz 5y ago
    What are some of the tools that can't run on distroless?
    - encryptluks2 5y ago
      Anything that relies on system libraries. This works fine for most Go apps, but can have unexpected results if you don't compile the app correctly to use Go networking and what not.
      - bogomipz 5y ago
        I see. Regarding Go, how would forget to import the Go net and http packages for your app? I would think your compilation itself would fail to begin with. Or are you referring to something else?
        encryptluks2 5y ago
        In my time building Go apps in the past, you'd need to specify the netgo tag and others. Not sure if this is necessary anymore, but I can think of a few Go packages that require CGO and what not that will not work using a scratch image.
- folmar 5y ago
  I would suggest to just use a small number of base images. The total size of all layerse is irrelevant in most cases if it's a small layer on top of something common for you = cached.
sciurus 5y ago
Are they still on to of everyone else in a meaningful way, though? There was discussion yesterday [0] that pointed out that there are 29MB Debian [1] and Ubuntu [2] images. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30633670 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30633670 [1] https://hub.docker.com/layers/debian/library/debian/stable-slim/images/sha256-1a5fbe1deccdbb32d623df74c4e26caada0be08f20a514a01c04372552a569ee?context=explore https://hub.docker.com/layers/debian/library/debian/stable-s... [2] https://ubuntu.com/blog/minimal-ubuntu-released https://ubuntu.com/blog/minimal-ubuntu-released
- blueflow 5y ago
  I run Alpine Linux from a 512 MB CF card, so yes.
  - dividedbyzero 5y ago
    What do you use this for?
    - blueflow 5y ago
      On a Siemens Futro S-300. I use it as a Home Server. A 2-TB disk is mounted there, also a printer.

"you're on your own" is like, the expected thing when you are doing something different. Still, Alpine is on top of everyone else when it comes to Docker Images sizes. Thats why it will stick.

traceroute66 5y ago

> "you're on your own" is like, the expected thing when you are doing something different. Indeed. And that's fine. As long as you're willing to support that difference. But the "Alpine compiling XYZ against musl" thing is/was just being done blindly by Alpine (i.e. load X into auto-build and let it rip). Sure it compiled without errors. But it never ran properly.

encryptluks2 5y ago
I've rarely had issues and if I do there is a process to report them to get them fixed. Not yet mad and act like the entire distro is worthless because I can't be bothered with reporting an issue for something that is already free. I've had less issues with Alpine than I've had with software on Windows.

qbasic_forever 5y ago

If you care about image size you need to switch to a distroless image base. It's incredibly easy nowadays with multi-stage builds. IMHO people use alpine not because they seek it out but because they're reading old guides and advice that hasn't been updated with the times. Blindly switching to alpine to save space is opening yourself up to exactly these sorts of musl-libc quirks and issues--you better have solid test coverage and a plan to make sure there aren't unexpected edge cases.

encryptluks2 5y ago
There are a lot of tools that simply can't run distroless and adding in all the requirements is often tedious with little reward.
- bogomipz 5y ago
  What are some of the tools that can't run on distroless?
  - encryptluks2 5y ago
    Anything that relies on system libraries. This works fine for most Go apps, but can have unexpected results if you don't compile the app correctly to use Go networking and what not.
    - bogomipz 5y ago
      I see. Regarding Go, how would forget to import the Go net and http packages for your app? I would think your compilation itself would fail to begin with. Or are you referring to something else?
      - encryptluks2 5y ago
        In my time building Go apps in the past, you'd need to specify the netgo tag and others. Not sure if this is necessary anymore, but I can think of a few Go packages that require CGO and what not that will not work using a scratch image.
folmar 5y ago
I would suggest to just use a small number of base images. The total size of all layerse is irrelevant in most cases if it's a small layer on top of something common for you = cached.

sciurus 5y ago

Are they still on to of everyone else in a meaningful way, though? There was discussion yesterday [0] that pointed out that there are 29MB Debian [1] and Ubuntu [2] images. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30633670 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30633670 [1] https://hub.docker.com/layers/debian/library/debian/stable-slim/images/sha256-1a5fbe1deccdbb32d623df74c4e26caada0be08f20a514a01c04372552a569ee?context=explore https://hub.docker.com/layers/debian/library/debian/stable-s... [2] https://ubuntu.com/blog/minimal-ubuntu-released https://ubuntu.com/blog/minimal-ubuntu-released

blueflow 5y ago
I run Alpine Linux from a 512 MB CF card, so yes.
- dividedbyzero 5y ago
  What do you use this for?
  - blueflow 5y ago
    On a Siemens Futro S-300. I use it as a Home Server. A 2-TB disk is mounted there, also a printer.