4 ms·

I love how there is absolutely no mention that it is mac-only (or even what versions of mac are supported), even on the download page.

raffraffraff 2y ago
Was just about to post this. Apple heads tend to think that Mac is the default. Funny when you realise that the problem OrbStack is trying to fix is that MacOS isn't Linux.
- pjmlp 2y ago
  Rather people using a UNIX, that isn't GNU/Linux, instead of sponsoring Linux OEMs.
  - withinboredom 2y ago
    Pretty sure orbstack won't run on other unix systems.
    - pjmlp 2y ago
      Buying a Linux powered laptop would have sorted out the problem in first place.
      - withinboredom 2y ago
        Yeah, because it won't ever wake up from sleep. :p
saagarjha 2y ago
Which other platform would you expect it to be for?
- fulafel 2y ago
  It advertises as an alternative to Docker Desktop which is for Windows and Linux as well.
  - pxc 2y ago
    The thing Docker Desktop (and analogues like Podman Desktop, Rancher Desktop, etc.) is useful for (a) is setting up a Linux guest VM so that you can run Linux containers and (b) doing some socket forwarding magic so that when you run the `docker` CLI on the host operating system, it acts as a remote client for dockerd running on the guest. There's little point in running Docker Desktop on Linux because you don't need either (a) or (b) on Linux (nor the equivalents for Podman or your favorite Kubernetes distribution). You get the overhead and annoyances of running all your containers under a second OS running under your first one for what— an Electron GUI? I guess it's something if you're really worried about container escapes during local development. But it doesn't generally seem worth it to me. The other thing OrbStack integrates is letting you spin up many 'machines' that have fast startup and efficiently share resources with each other. But OrbStack achieves that by running long-lived system containers on a single guest VM. If you're on Linux, you can just do that directly, just like the Docker containers, using the same tools¹ OrbStack uses under the hood. The CLI for Incus (a descendant if lxd, associated with Linux containers and LXC) is really pretty nice, too. OrbStack has a lot of polish and performance optimizations that make it really competitive against other tools like it. There's lots of thoughtful touches in it beyond the basic ideas outlined above. But I wouldn't recommend any tool in its class to someone running a Linux desktop/laptop/workstation who wants to use containers in development. Just use the real things directly and learn the normal, universal CLIs. -- 1: https://linuxcontainers.org/incus/ https://linuxcontainers.org/incus/
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
- knallfrosch 2y ago
  Asked the other way around, why would anyone think a Docker container runner would be tied to MacOS?
Animats 2y ago
Yes. I'd like to have something that runs Docker images on desktop but doesn't require a privileged daemon, users, groups, etc.
- suprjami 2y ago
  Is Podman Desktop available on your platform? Podman is rootless containers done correctly.
  - Animats 2y ago
    Thanks. I will try that. (I want to run Open Drone Map on Ubuntu desktop. ODM is a collection of image processing software from OpenCV and similar sources loosely bolted together to merge aerial photos from drones into a 3D model. So it has the install from hell unless containerized. ODM had a snap version, but the snap maintainer left the project.)
- PhilipRoman 2y ago
  Probably not what you're looking for but I just wanted to mention Apptainer (previously Singularity). I find that it is usually easier to integrate and doesn't rely on a daemon. You can still use docker images as base.
  - mrbluecoat 2y ago
    Agreed. Apptainer is great for this use case.
me551ah 2y ago
Windows already has WSL2 and Docker would run natively on Linux anyway.
inopinatus 2y ago
It's in the page title.
- mkl 2y ago
  Conveniently left out of the HN link, and mentioned nowhere in the page body.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - inopinatus 2y ago
    Complaining about one’s own failure to read the title of a document seems like an own goal. It’s an obvious detail, and it’s right there in the header.
globular-toast 2y ago
Yeah, I was quite confused, especially by the title "docker containers and Linux"? What does that mean? If you can run Linux you can run docker. I thought it might have been a batteries included Linux distro at first.

raffraffraff 2y ago

Was just about to post this. Apple heads tend to think that Mac is the default. Funny when you realise that the problem OrbStack is trying to fix is that MacOS isn't Linux.

pjmlp 2y ago
Rather people using a UNIX, that isn't GNU/Linux, instead of sponsoring Linux OEMs.
- withinboredom 2y ago
  Pretty sure orbstack won't run on other unix systems.
  - pjmlp 2y ago
    Buying a Linux powered laptop would have sorted out the problem in first place.
    - withinboredom 2y ago
      Yeah, because it won't ever wake up from sleep. :p

saagarjha 2y ago

Which other platform would you expect it to be for?

fulafel 2y ago
It advertises as an alternative to Docker Desktop which is for Windows and Linux as well.
- pxc 2y ago
  The thing Docker Desktop (and analogues like Podman Desktop, Rancher Desktop, etc.) is useful for (a) is setting up a Linux guest VM so that you can run Linux containers and (b) doing some socket forwarding magic so that when you run the `docker` CLI on the host operating system, it acts as a remote client for dockerd running on the guest. There's little point in running Docker Desktop on Linux because you don't need either (a) or (b) on Linux (nor the equivalents for Podman or your favorite Kubernetes distribution). You get the overhead and annoyances of running all your containers under a second OS running under your first one for what— an Electron GUI? I guess it's something if you're really worried about container escapes during local development. But it doesn't generally seem worth it to me. The other thing OrbStack integrates is letting you spin up many 'machines' that have fast startup and efficiently share resources with each other. But OrbStack achieves that by running long-lived system containers on a single guest VM. If you're on Linux, you can just do that directly, just like the Docker containers, using the same tools¹ OrbStack uses under the hood. The CLI for Incus (a descendant if lxd, associated with Linux containers and LXC) is really pretty nice, too. OrbStack has a lot of polish and performance optimizations that make it really competitive against other tools like it. There's lots of thoughtful touches in it beyond the basic ideas outlined above. But I wouldn't recommend any tool in its class to someone running a Linux desktop/laptop/workstation who wants to use containers in development. Just use the real things directly and learn the normal, universal CLIs. -- 1: https://linuxcontainers.org/incus/ https://linuxcontainers.org/incus/
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
knallfrosch 2y ago
Asked the other way around, why would anyone think a Docker container runner would be tied to MacOS?

Animats 2y ago

Yes. I'd like to have something that runs Docker images on desktop but doesn't require a privileged daemon, users, groups, etc.

suprjami 2y ago
Is Podman Desktop available on your platform? Podman is rootless containers done correctly.
- Animats 2y ago
  Thanks. I will try that. (I want to run Open Drone Map on Ubuntu desktop. ODM is a collection of image processing software from OpenCV and similar sources loosely bolted together to merge aerial photos from drones into a 3D model. So it has the install from hell unless containerized. ODM had a snap version, but the snap maintainer left the project.)
PhilipRoman 2y ago
Probably not what you're looking for but I just wanted to mention Apptainer (previously Singularity). I find that it is usually easier to integrate and doesn't rely on a daemon. You can still use docker images as base.
- mrbluecoat 2y ago
  Agreed. Apptainer is great for this use case.

me551ah 2y ago

Windows already has WSL2 and Docker would run natively on Linux anyway.

inopinatus 2y ago

It's in the page title.

mkl 2y ago
Conveniently left out of the HN link, and mentioned nowhere in the page body.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- inopinatus 2y ago
  Complaining about one’s own failure to read the title of a document seems like an own goal. It’s an obvious detail, and it’s right there in the header.

globular-toast 2y ago

Yeah, I was quite confused, especially by the title "docker containers and Linux"? What does that mean? If you can run Linux you can run docker. I thought it might have been a batteries included Linux distro at first.