I personally find it quite sad to see reactions on HN regarding the introduction of Docker Desktop subscription model. We all benefit from a well supported Docker company, it’s good to see they are trying to look for a sustainable model. If your team is using their tools daily since years, and you decide to change to a different one just to avoid a small license fee, that feels hypocritical. If the tool worked for you when it was free, it still works when you have to pay a small license fee and brings the same value.<p>Companies paying for developer tooling is good for the ecosystem.
Nothing mentioned here is actually an alternative for Docker Desktop. The article is very k8s focused, which is really just a feature that was added to Docker Desktop.
I don’t want any kubernetes, though. I just want a VM (or similar) with a Docker in it, that’s simple enough for me to easily set up for my whole company with minimal scripting, and requires zero hand holding for continued support from me.
For those interested, there is Rancher Desktop[1]. It's an open source desktop app for K8s and containers. Works on Mac (Intel) and Windows. Apple Silicon and Linux Desktop support are both planned.<p>[1] <a href="https://rancherdesktop.io" rel="nofollow">https://rancherdesktop.io</a><p>Disclosure, I work on Rancher Desktop.
The article is wrong....<p>> microk8s – a Snap distribution of Kubernetes. Only for Linux. Not sure why you would use it. Minikube has been far more battle-tested and is multi-platform, and doesn't require lock-in to a pseudo-package manager.<p>microk8s is available on macos, and works well from my limited testing of it<p><a href="https://microk8s.io/" rel="nofollow">https://microk8s.io/</a>
How would I use Minikube to replace Docker Desktop if I don't want to use (or learn anything in depth) about Kubernetes? Like in the case where we just want to build images locally, optionally send to a docker registry, and use docker commands to run the docker containers?
I’ve see no mention of dinghy (<a href="https://github.com/codekitchen/dinghy" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/codekitchen/dinghy</a>), which is what I used to roll before Docker for Mac really got up and running. I pulled it up yesterday and everything still works.<p>For anyone who is interested in a Docker Desktop alternative but without the k8 overhead, there’s a head start here just waiting to be picked up and revitalized.
I've uninstalled Docker Desktop and installed podman in WSL2. So far I haven't had a problem.<p>Granted not everyone can do this if they have a dependency on the Docker ecosystem, but as someone who just used Docker desktop to run and build containers on the cli or via Ansible, podman is nearly a drop in replacement. As a bonus, theres no docker bridge IP conflict I need to worry about.<p>Edit: Alternatively, this also looks comprehensive: <a href="https://dev.to/bowmanjd/install-docker-on-windows-wsl-without-docker-desktop-34m9" rel="nofollow">https://dev.to/bowmanjd/install-docker-on-windows-wsl-withou...</a>
"Minikube is the officially supported way to run Kubernetes locally on macOS, Windows, or Linux. Furthermore, it is the only tool that is a drop-in replacement for Docker Desktop."<p>Huh, I hadn't realised that Minikube was available on Windows!<p>I use Docker Desktop on Windows, to make it easy to run Docker, Docker Compose, and Docker Swarm.<p>Does Minikube support these things, or <i>only</i> Kubernetes? If it's the latter, then of course it's not a drop/in replacement for Docker Desktop.
I feel like we need an update of that Jamie Zawinski adage:<p>> <i>Some people, when confronted with a problem, think "I know, I'll use kubernetes." Now they have two problems.</i>
Love it. Always thought "Docker" was precisely the sort of thing that was destined to be a great and useful tool and a <i>terrible</i> kabillion dollar business.
The article doesn't mention k3d (<a href="https://k3d.io/" rel="nofollow">https://k3d.io/</a>) which is a variant of k3s that runs in docker (rather than a VM) - very nice for k8s dev/test on developer workstations.<p>It integrates very nicely with <a href="https://tilt.dev/" rel="nofollow">https://tilt.dev/</a> also (another very useful tool for k8s related dev/test).
I wrote an installer that sets up a VirtualBox VM, installs docker in it and sets everything up with a single command. It has a few drawbacks but might be good enough for a lot of use cases: <a href="https://github.com/dziemba/mobymac" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/dziemba/mobymac</a>
I did an (admittedly quick) evaluation yesterday, and came away with the impression that migrating away from Docker over this would be penny wise and pound foolish.<p>There are other options that have a lower sticker price. But Docker Desktop's price isn't exactly high, and we've already got a lot of investment in Docker, knowledge about Docker, and related infrastructure such as testcontainers. So, after factoring in that we are still a company and do have to pay developers for their time, I concluded that, big picture, just giving them some money is the vastly less expensive option.
This article should do a better job of explaining how Minikube is a "drop-in replacement for Docker Desktop". After installing Minikube, you won't just be able to run `docker` commands (`docker build`, `docker run`, etc.) on the terminal like you would after installing Docker Desktop.<p>You need to download the Docker client somewhere, need to configure this client to point to Minikube's remote host (`minikube docker-env` helps here), and some Docker commands won't work the same (--publish, --volume).
Lima is also a solid alternative for macOS users. <a href="https://github.com/lima-vm/lima" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/lima-vm/lima</a> It runs containerd+nerdctl but I've heard it can also be set up to run Moby engine (docker). <a href="https://twitter.com/_AkihiroSuda_/status/1432906244860223493" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/_AkihiroSuda_/status/1432906244860223493</a>
The article completely misses the point. And this at the end:<p>> In closing, I think that the outrage over Docker's decision is far overblown. If you're an enterprise using Docker Desktop at scale, then you should be paying for support.<p>Sure. But Docker doesn’t want the enterprises to pay for “support”. They are turning something what not many people know how to viably and reliably replace into a paid product. The enterprises will essentially just have to “suck it up”.<p>This rapid decision about the Docker Desktop makes me think what is Docker the company going to do about Linux? Start charging for compose? swarm? The realistic goal must surely be monetisation on Linux, not macOS or Windows…
Perhaps I have misunderstood something, but the Docker engine remains free and open source. What annoys me is that they treat Windows & macOS users differently than Linux users. Linux Desktop users this doesn't impact at all. I have never used the Docker Desktop application. But for me as macOS user Docker Desktop was the only way to run the Docker engine native (more or less, I think they use HyperKit under the hood) on my host system. Is there any alternative to run just the Docker engine on macOS just like Docker Desktop does? I don't want any Kubernetes on my Laptop. All I need is the Docker engine and the Docker CLI.
Is there a Docker Desktop for Linux? I don't see one here <a href="https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop" rel="nofollow">https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop</a> (the Linux link takes you to Docker Engine).<p>The article presents "Docker Desktop Alternatives", then says "Minikube requires a VM. False" but it looks like on the platforms being compared here (macOS and Windows, since Docker Desktop is only available there) it does use a VM.<p>Did I get this wrong?
"kind, microk8s, or k3s are replacements for Docker Desktop. False. Minikube is the only drop-in replacement. The other tools require a Linux distribution, which makes them a non-starter on macOS or Windows."<p>False, kind can run on top of Docker Desktop on Mac, it does not require Linux exclusively.
Fwiw, I switched to a docker-machine based deployment with vmware.<p><a href="https://gist.github.com/visualphoenix/1bfa6f05289902bf2858bc5357e7d971" rel="nofollow">https://gist.github.com/visualphoenix/1bfa6f05289902bf2858bc...</a>
if the author is reading this, can you re-evaluate from a wsl2 standpoint ?<p>Basically installing docker desktop gets you seamless docker working on the wsl2 commandline - which is basically a linux experience at minimal performance hit. far far better than any VM.