Hi folks, I'm building a Mac utility to extract and process data from local PDF files. I use Python for crawling PDFs and Java for processing the data. I'd like to be able to share this program with other computers (mostly Macs and a couple with Windows) that don't have Python or Java installed. I've heard Docker might be a solution, but since I've never used it before, I'd like to ask you all if Docker is the right tool for this task or if there's a better one I should consider studying. In any case, it will be my first experience with containers. All hints are very welcome, and thanks!
Ask HN: Docker for a Mac App?
1–10 of 16 posts
Re: Ask HN: Docker for a Mac App?
#2No, Docker is not right for this, mostly because Docker does not actually run on Mac; it runs on a Linux VM. MacOS doesn't really support containers.
I would suggest looking at Homebrew.
Re: Ask HN: Docker for a Mac App?
#3No, Docker is not right for this, mostly because Docker does not actually run on Mac; it runs on a Linux VM. MacOS doesn't really support containers. I would suggest looking at Homebrew.
containers on mac go through a VM
Many, many developers use Docker on Mac without issue
There is Docker Desktop and Colima you can use
Re: Ask HN: Docker for a Mac App?
#4Are your users technical enough to run containers and install Docker Desktop / Colima?
Re: Ask HN: Docker for a Mac App?
#5Are your users technical enough to run containers and install Docker Desktop / Colima?
Thanks verdverm, my user's aren't technical at all, they can install a .dmg file in their macs, but nothing beyond that
Re: Ask HN: Docker for a Mac App?
#6No, Docker is not right for this, mostly because Docker does not actually run on Mac; it runs on a Linux VM. MacOS doesn't really support containers. I would suggest looking at Homebrew.
containers on mac go through a VM Many, many developers use Docker on Mac without issue There is Docker Desktop and Colima you can use
There's two different things here.
Q: I need to run existing Docker containers on my Mac.
A: You have to use a VM; it's no big deal.
Q: What's the best way to package a new native Mac app?
A: Not containers.
Re: Ask HN: Docker for a Mac App?
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
containers on mac go through a VM Many, many developers use Docker on Mac without issue There is Docker Desktop and Colima you can use
There's two different things here. Q: I need to run existing Docker containers on my Mac. A: You have to use a VM; it's no big deal. Q: What's the best way to package a new native Mac app? A: Not containers.
Thank you very much, wmf, for clarifying. I am doing some research to replace the Java dependencies with Python exclusively, so I can create a .dmg installer using PyInstaller or similar tool. This appears to be a more straightforward approach
Re: Ask HN: Docker for a Mac App?
#8Python is cross-platform. Java is cross-platform.
Re: Ask HN: Docker for a Mac App?
#9Are your users technical enough to run containers and install Docker Desktop / Colima?
Thanks verdverm, my user's aren't technical at all, they can install a .dmg file in their macs, but nothing beyond that
I don’t think you can use Docker for those users. I follow the Colima development from far by looking at their GitHub issues and releases and you don’t want to deal with such complexity with non technical users.
Re: Ask HN: Docker for a Mac App?
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's two different things here. Q: I need to run existing Docker containers on my Mac. A: You have to use a VM; it's no big deal. Q: What's the best way to package a new native Mac app? A: Not containers.
Thank you very much, wmf, for clarifying. I am doing some research to replace the Java dependencies with Python exclusively, so I can create a .dmg installer using PyInstaller or similar tool. This appears to be a more straightforward approach
Take note, building .dmg or .exe of python apps may cause anti-viruses to panic when your users run the apps, they can add exceptions but I would recommend doing proper research into this.