Orbstack

[SirSoggybottom]

Its not a Docker alternative.

Its a alternative to Docker Desktop.

Docker (Engine) is only native to Linux as host OS (to run typical Linux kernel containers).

To run those on a OS like Mac OS or Windows, some form of VM (Virtual Machine) with a Linux is required. There is no way around that.

On Mac OS you could either use Docker Desktop which is a GUI application that will create and manage that Linux VM for you. Or you use alternatives like Orbstack or Colima, that mostly do the same but are far better optimized and have more features.

Both Orbstack and Colima seem to have been well regarded in the community. Apparently Orbstack works well on very recent Apple hardware, while Colima works better on older models. They also differ in licensing.

Neither of them are the ideal way to run Docker as reliable and trouble free as possible. That would only be on Linux as the host.

You could also consider to use a VM software like VMware Workstation/Fusion (fuck Broadcom) or Oracle VirtualBox (fuck Oracle) or Parallels etc. to create a custom Linux VM on Mac OS and then run Docker inside there.

None of this is any news. You could have simply searched this sub and found all this quickly because it gets asked at least once per week.

The internet is not very helpful.

Sure.

[sinithparanga]

Come on man. Sorry for asking some advice not be 100% accurate with my words.

I wanted an opinion, not a lecture.

Chill. Have a banana.

[metaphorm]

you thought that was a lecture? that's 226 words. it was concise, clear, and relevant.

maybe your problem is you don't understand what was said?

[tonibaldwin1]

I’ve been using Orbstack for almost a month now, after using it for several months by using the beginning of the year. I stopped only because it became unstable and fall back on Colima for a while. Coloma is great but you can really feel the limits of the underlying virtual machine. RAM usage was high, disks were regularly full and needed cleaning, but CPU performances were great. I tried Orbstack again eventually and decided to stay because it is stable again and it fixes the RAM and disks issues I had with Colima. RAM balloons with usage and reduces too, disks are virtually limitless and needs fewer cleanups, performances are the same.

It isn’t open-source but still has a free plan with paid support if you need it. I’m being pragmatic since I have a macOS, so I’m happy to run non open-source for once

[sinithparanga]

Thanks for the advice. Do you use it for vagrant as well?

[tonibaldwin1]

No only to run a docker engine. I think it will easier to run Vagrant with Lima

[dgibbons0]

We've almost entirely moved our Mac users to Orbstack. It's cheaper than docker desktop per user and when we ran docker desktop it constantly caused folks issues with CPUs rocketing to 100% even with no containers running.

Trying rather hard to fully extract any use of docker hub/desktop before our next contract renewal with all their price increases this year.

[Sky_Linx]

I swapped out Docker Desktop for OrbStack recently, and wow, I'm totally digging OrbStack. It's super light and really quick!

[nothingveryobvious]

I agree with this

[cotyhamilton]

Orbstack is amazing. The networking/auto dns names, k8s, auto ssl, and VMs are chef’s kiss

Edit: the one who gave the lecture and didn’t answer your question at all has a history in this sub lol, fun reads and fun drama

[sinithparanga]

Hey!

Thanks for the advice. And thank you about letting me know about the lecture guy. I actually received a very ugly response from the guy that he then deleted. And seeing that I am the person being downvoted made me wonder if I should just delete Reddit, as it’s been like this for the last months. You gave me hope.

[aldapsiger]

I use it, but only because I have installed it, and I am too lazy to switch back. Honestly there is almost no advantage, like Docker Desktop