Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hasn't 2.x been released for a long time now?
Really? I loved the original RancherOS, would love to see the new version!
I think I'm confusing Rancher "proper" and RancherOS, sorry.
An overview of single-purpose Linux distributions
91–100 of 103 posts
Re: An overview of single-purpose Linux distributions
#92This is one of those things that I've always been too scared to ask so I'm just going to ask it now: Is there a distro designed exclusively for running docker (and perhaps other) containers that also contains a friendly web UI for people who have no idea how docker actually works? I'm familiar with Proxmox, but it doesn't natively support docker.
The quick answer is no. But what is a friendly web UI other than a few 10s of hours work on top of the distros mentioned here? There are a few distros that are very close; they just substitute the web ui for the docker cli. I’ve enjoyed RancherOS, and I want to setup Alpine to run in RAM (it can do that) for some super-fast rPi nonsense.
Re: An overview of single-purpose Linux distributions
#93This is one of those things that I've always been too scared to ask so I'm just going to ask it now: Is there a distro designed exclusively for running docker (and perhaps other) containers that also contains a friendly web UI for people who have no idea how docker actually works? I'm familiar with Proxmox, but it doesn't natively support docker.
OpenSUSE MicroOS is basically built around the idea of an "immutable" (read disincentivized to change) core while the majority of user space runs in a Podman container. It was originally developed as an absolute minimal distro for running containers on servers, but the immutable desktop movement led them to develop a desktop user-facing variant. Other ideas that are very similar: Fedora SilverBlue (very similar, more…
Don't forget Fedora CoreOS, Fedora's actual container-distro! Silverblue/Kinoite are desktop distributions.
The idea and execution is very similar to MicroOS, both on the desktop and on the server. Immutability isn't as scary as it sounds, highly recommend checking it out.
No webgui though, that has to come from another project...
Re: An overview of single-purpose Linux distributions
#94This is one of those things that I've always been too scared to ask so I'm just going to ask it now: Is there a distro designed exclusively for running docker (and perhaps other) containers that also contains a friendly web UI for people who have no idea how docker actually works? I'm familiar with Proxmox, but it doesn't natively support docker.
OpenSUSE MicroOS is basically built around the idea of an "immutable" (read disincentivized to change) core while the majority of user space runs in a Podman container. It was originally developed as an absolute minimal distro for running containers on servers, but the immutable desktop movement led them to develop a desktop user-facing variant. Other ideas that are very similar: Fedora SilverBlue (very similar, more…
A small correction: Fedora Silverblue & co is highly Flatpak based, and the VanillaOS 'package manager' is Distrobox under the hood, which is a project for running full linux distros inside podman containers intended for desktop users.
Re: An overview of single-purpose Linux distributions
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
today i learned about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostmarketOS - "an operating system primarily for smartphones, based on the Alpine Linux distribution" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostmarketOS "Alpine Linux was chosen as the base distribution due to its low storage requirements, making it more suitable for older devices. Excluding the kernel, a base installation takes up approximately 6 MB" i guess that would al…
too bad that device support isn't stellar :-( https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Devices
I ran it on my PinePhone for awhile, and it was really nice interacting with the base system, though I eventually moved to Arch.
Re: An overview of single-purpose Linux distributions
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
VMware has a thing that's basically this also: https://vmware.github.io/vic-product/ But I've never quite understood the appeal. Is it about running untrusted containers with VM-level isolation? Or having a familiar GUI for managing and lifecycling them? Something else? Fundamentally, I worry that mixing VMs and containers is more likely to end up with the worst of both worlds rather than the best— basically you get…
Ah the GUI/container integration is more for homelabs/internal networks type of usage, and I agree that it makes little sense in production. Otherwise you are also right that containers should be managed in a very different way from VMs. Especially when the page you linked boasts about offering a similar experience to deploying VMs for sys admins, which might lead to unoptimal usage for both VMs and containers. (But…
> the page you linked boasts about offering a similar experience to deploying VMs for sys admins, which might lead to unoptimal usage for both VMs and containers. (But it at least seems to offer docker container support, not the barely used LXCs. So at least it can be useful)
Relatively long-lived, potentially multi-process server things is what LXC is for. It makes more sense to run LXC than Docker in that situation anyway. -_-
Re: An overview of single-purpose Linux distributions
#97As a person who only occasionally needs Linux for specific purposes, something I‘d like is a well-supported mainstream distro for lightweight, high performance servers. Think NGINX, routers, local web proxies, that kind of thing. Something akin to BSD but Linux. Ideally something that supports a two-stage deployment where you compile for the exact target CPU and then the final thing has no extraneous components at al…
You say you need a distro which to me implies you want packages and a repository and updates, installation of packages on the fly, etc. But you also say you want to make a final image with nothing extra except your main apps, which makes me think you don't want a distro. I'd think about what your goals are and optimize for that use, it's going to be hard to do both the things you mention at once since they are somewh…
> You say you need a distro which to me implies you want packages and a repository and updates, installation of packages on the fly, etc. But you also say you want to make a final image with nothing extra except your main apps, which makes me think you don't want a distro.
Isn't this basically what you get when using any minimal install type distro as a base, and also when building Docker images via Nix or similar?
Re: An overview of single-purpose Linux distributions
#98This is one of those things that I've always been too scared to ask so I'm just going to ask it now: Is there a distro designed exclusively for running docker (and perhaps other) containers that also contains a friendly web UI for people who have no idea how docker actually works? I'm familiar with Proxmox, but it doesn't natively support docker.
I am working on something like it. It's a specialized, immutable Linux os that blends networking, nas and containers.
We found that even with a web GUI, containers are just too complicated for the typical user "that knows nothing about containers".
Even with a GUI, no matter how nice it is, you need to learn about env vars, port mappings, cni networks, bridging, volume mounts, images, tags, host isolation, etc etc..
Our solution is to wrap apps into pre-packaged recipes. Pretty big trade-off of course, but it makes the installation and management completely fool-proof afterwards.
You can see some screen shots in the documentation here:
https://sentinelc.com/docs/user-guides/administration/manage...
Re: An overview of single-purpose Linux distributions
#99> since all of the read-only parts of openSUSE MicroOS have now been moved to /usr, the upcoming 4.2.0 release of transactional-update would also be able to apply new snapshots without rebooting Huge improvement, reboot to activate was a major downside.
But do you update the kernel without rebooting? Previously transactional-update can update the kernel and call dracut to make a new boot image. I suppose this still needs a reboot?
No reboots for non-kernel updates would still be a win imho. Because these are rolling releases not point releases, and updates snapshots are pulled daily by default (and therefore daily reboots are/were recommended), so its likely only a small subset of snapshots have a kernel update.
Re: An overview of single-purpose Linux distributions
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes but those aren’t single purpose OS’s like the ones described here. These typically come with immutability and a vastly reduced attack surface
It can be if you use the right base OS. NixOS for all its issues checks most of the boxes for building a single purpose OS and the process of actually building one couldn't be easier. The whole process is effectively: 1. Write a config file 2. Run the command that builds the system 3. Test the system 4. (optional) Run the command that bakes the fresh system generated from the config into an image. 5. Deploy using eit…
Shouldn’t nix be able just output an image?