Show HN: Devbox – Containers for better dev environments

I've been frustrated with dependency hell and clutter on my VPS from dev, so I built Devbox: a lightweight, open-source CLI tool that spins up isolated development environments using Docker. Each project runs in its own container, but your code stays in simple flat folders on the host machine—no messing with volumes or sync issues. Environments are disposable, so you can nuke and recreate them without losing your work. Key features: - Instant setup: `devbox init my-project` and you're in a fresh env with `devbox shell`.

- Configurable via JSON: Define packages, services, and more in a `devbox.json` file. Share it in your repo for reproducible setups—teammates just run `devbox up`.

- Docker-in-Docker by default: Build and run containers inside your env without extra config.

- Host-friendly: Edit code directly on your machine; the container handles the runtime.

- Templates for quick starts: Built-ins for Python, Node.js, Go, web dev, etc.

- Advanced options: Port mapping, env vars, resource limits, and even mounting your dotfiles.

It's FOSS (MIT license), Linux-focused (Debian/Ubuntu, or WSL2 on Windows), and super easy to install: `curl -fsSL https://devbox.ar0.eu/install.sh | bash`.

Check out the launch page and docs at https://devbox.ar0.eu, or the repo at https://github.com/itzCozi/devbox. I'd love some feedback, stars, or contributions to help grow this into a solid community tool!

Show HN: Devbox – Containers for better dev environments
devbox.ar0.eu

Looks like a really fun project. You might want to reconsider the name though, since there is this other devbox from Jetify https://www.jetify.com/devbox that also received quite some attention on HN a while ago https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32600821

FYI there's a well-starred, corporate-backed, similar functionality, Nix-based product with the same name:

https://github.com/jetify-com/devbox https://www.jetify.com/devbox

I am not affiliated with Microsoft and I anal but I think dev box is fine. What we want to avoid is the term dev containers.

https://containers.dev/

We've been using devcontainers for this, as it's already got good support in vscode. Could you perhaps "elevator pitch" the main differences between devbox and devcontainers?