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> Ubuntu powers the overwhelming majority of Azure workloads I expect this to shift. Some years ago `FROM ubuntu:something` was a go-to for Dockerfiles when I

> Ubuntu powers the overwhelming majority of Azure workloads I expect this to shift. Some years ago `FROM ubuntu:something` was a go-to for Dockerfiles when I wasn't feeling fancy with `FROM alpine` or `FROM busybox` (or `FROM scratch`). Today if I need a generic distro base, I'm consciously going with Debian-based images and Ubuntu is never an option anymore (it used to be "Debian, but better", it became "Debian, but worse"). And I strongly suspect I'm very much not alone. So give it a few years while people convert and upgrade stuff and this might be not exactly longer true.

dikei 3y ago
Ha, it's the reverse for me. I used to use Debian base image, but now switch to Ubuntu LTS base images almost exclusively due to them offering newer versions of most core libraries, and longer support duration.
- zokier 3y ago
  > them offering newer versions of most core libraries Is that actually true? Debian has managed pretty consistent 2 year release cadence, same as Ubuntu LTS, so based on that alone they should on average have similar library freshness. Basically Debian releases on odd years, Ubuntu LTS on even years. I suppose Debian might have slightly longer freeze periods.
klardotsh 3y ago
Generally agree: these days almost all of my images are either Alpine-based, or Debian-based. For example, the upstream _/ruby and _/python images offer both of those as the only base OS (well, aside from Windows Server Core apparently?) options, which alone makes up a huge chunk of Docker uses. (this is evidently because buildpack-deps offers Debian and Alpine bases, and these images both base from that to try to share layers, neat)
3np 3y ago
Surprisingly enough, if your primary motivation for doing this is to save system resources, it might be misguided. ubuntu-base docker images are slimmer than contemporary debian slim, even, though debian seems to have been closing the gap recently - I recall the discrepancy as larger. Below shows image sizes in MB as of today: docker.io/debian:bullseye 123.4 docker.io/debian:bookworm 115.7 docker.io/debian:bullseye-slim 80.1 docker.io/ubuntu:22.04 76.6 docker.io/debian:bookworm-slim 74.2 docker.io/ubuntu:23.04 69.4 This is specific to docker images, while default ubuntu server or desktop releases are otherwise very much a bloat-fest compared to debian.

dikei 3y ago

Ha, it's the reverse for me. I used to use Debian base image, but now switch to Ubuntu LTS base images almost exclusively due to them offering newer versions of most core libraries, and longer support duration.

zokier 3y ago
> them offering newer versions of most core libraries Is that actually true? Debian has managed pretty consistent 2 year release cadence, same as Ubuntu LTS, so based on that alone they should on average have similar library freshness. Basically Debian releases on odd years, Ubuntu LTS on even years. I suppose Debian might have slightly longer freeze periods.

klardotsh 3y ago

Generally agree: these days almost all of my images are either Alpine-based, or Debian-based. For example, the upstream _/ruby and _/python images offer both of those as the only base OS (well, aside from Windows Server Core apparently?) options, which alone makes up a huge chunk of Docker uses. (this is evidently because buildpack-deps offers Debian and Alpine bases, and these images both base from that to try to share layers, neat)

3np 3y ago

Surprisingly enough, if your primary motivation for doing this is to save system resources, it might be misguided. ubuntu-base docker images are slimmer than contemporary debian slim, even, though debian seems to have been closing the gap recently - I recall the discrepancy as larger. Below shows image sizes in MB as of today: docker.io/debian:bullseye 123.4 docker.io/debian:bookworm 115.7 docker.io/debian:bullseye-slim 80.1 docker.io/ubuntu:22.04 76.6 docker.io/debian:bookworm-slim 74.2 docker.io/ubuntu:23.04 69.4 This is specific to docker images, while default ubuntu server or desktop releases are otherwise very much a bloat-fest compared to debian.