podman vs docker

[dos2unix]

How is Podman different from Docker? Podman is different from Docker in that it does not require a separate daemon to run containers, making it more lightweight and secure. It also has better support for running containers as non-root users, which can improve security.

Podman has been around for a few years now. But even so, I would say docker is still the default for many platforms.
If you are familiar with docker, you should have no trouble using podman. In fact you can use almost of the docker commands and
syntaxes using podman. Depending on which distro you use, you can simply replace the word "docker" with "podman".

Examples...

podman images
podman ps
podman ps -a
podman stop <container-name>
podman rm <container-name>

podman also works with kubernetes, very similarly to docker containers.

One major difference ( for better or worse ) is that podman uses a different program to build images.
I won't go into a lot of detail about Dockerfile syntax and creation. But once you've created it
and put into your builds directory. You run this...

buildah build

There are more options, you can add a version flag, or a specific name to your image.. but that's all you need to get started.

My Dockerfile looks like this..

FROM fedora:latest
RUN dnf update -y
RUN dnf install nginx nginx-all-modules nginx-filesystem python3.12-devel java-latest-openjdk-devel python3-pip python3-pipdeptree dhcp-server -y
EXPOSE 80 53
ENTRYPOINT nginx && /bin/bash

I don't have a Mac, so I'm not sure, but I have been told the Mac version of podman runs as a daemon.
If it's true, it defeats one of the major advantages of podman.

 

[f33dm3bits]

Since Rhel8 podman is the default for running containers on Rhel, I run all the containers I run using podman it's quite nice to be able to run containers rootless and daemon-less.

 

[Deleted member 108694]

You could through AppImages in the mix as well , they are self contained and do not mess with your OS

 

[dos2unix]

You could through AppImages in the mix as well

AppImage is more of a self-contained package. To me, it's more like a .deb or .rpm binary, except instead
having to load a lot of dependency packages, they are all included.

However most AppImages aren't really containers in the sense that they have dedicated/protected RAM and CPU
specifically for that application.

 

[CrazedNerd]

Can any of you tell me why podman and docker are necessary for creating graphical programs at all? What kinds of graphical programs do you develop with podman and docker?

 

[dos2unix]

I'm not sure running a GUI in a container really makes a lot of sense.
But containers make good web servers, you run the browser
on your host computer, so the "GUI" isn't really in the container.

I don't think containers are "required" to develop anything.
Containers are to isolate environments ( protected/dedicated RAM and CPU space )
and to quickly spin up repeatable environments.

Building out a new computer from scratch, or even a new VM takes time.
Takes another physical computer if you dont use a VM or container.
But spinning up a docker/podman container takes a few seconds.

As long as you have your Dockerfile backed up, you can always rebuild
the container quickly.

 

[CrazedNerd]

I'm not sure running a GUI in a container really makes a lot of sense.
But containers make good web servers, you run the browser
on your host computer, so the "GUI" isn't really in the container.

I don't think containers are "required" to develop anything.
Containers are to isolate environments ( protected/dedicated RAM and CPU space )
and to quickly spin up repeatable environments.

Building out a new computer from scratch, or even a new VM takes time.
Takes another physical computer if you dont use a VM or container.
But spinning up a docker/podman container takes a few seconds.

As long as you have your Dockerfile backed up, you can always rebuild
the container quickly.

Okay that makes sense, i've just seen containers and docker being referenced in discussions of software engineering