Managing bloat using container like environments.

[dos2unix]

I tried to ask somebody about this before: what exactly is the thing to install within the container? Isn't it just a virtual machine?

No docker isn't a virtualMachine. You can create your own docker container, or you can download pre-existing ones from dockerhub. This is taken care of behind the scenes by a docker "pull". Normally you create a Dockerfile to do this.

podman and docker don't run their own kernel in the container, they share the main host OS kernel.

I would say what delineates a VM, is that it runs its own OS.

 

[Vimmer]

podman and docker don't run their own kernel in the container, they share the main host OS kernel.

okay, that clarifies things a lot thanks. Would it be more accurate to say they are more lightweight and faster then?

 

[osprey]

Maybe I can work on a script that runs in background,
....
mhhmmm, need a better solution.

I believe you have answered your own question on the matter of removing files that are unwanted: scripts! Scripting empowers the user to do all the things the "ready made" applications don't do, or don't do so well, among many other things. The linux operating system relies heavily on scripts. It's evident in many configuration files, so scripting is just what is normally done in linux to have the system function in the way intended by any of developers, maintainers, distributions, research institutions etc. as well as individual users. It's a "do it yourself" system, which just happens to have enough applications for those who aren't into that side of things, to use as if its a final fully-featured system. Linux can still be thought of as essentially a research project. It's not a commercial product, though can be made into one, but that's not its essence.

On the matter of containers, the incus community project may be of interest. It is now mature and in active development and functional:

Linux Containers - Incus - Introduction

The umbrella project behind Incus, LXC, LXCFS, Distrobuilder and more.

linuxcontainers.org

There's an interesting history to it, and it's community driven rather than company controlled which some users find more attractive.