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Cristian Ariza edited this page Dec 19, 2021 · 25 revisions

How is this different from chroot?

Two things:

  • chroot needs root, Dockie doesn't
  • Dockie gives you management of images from the Docker Hub with the same commands as Docker
  • PRoot (and therefore Dockie) offers emulation of other architectures different from the one you have

How is this different from schroot?

With schroot you need root to setup the chroots first.

How is this different from fakeroot/fakechroot?

Project seems to be dead.

How is this different from Docker/LXC?

The functionality of Dockie is a subset of Docker's. You have less commands and you don't have the level of isolation that Docker does. But hey, it's all packed in a 170-line shell script it does not need any external dependecy and it uses less resources.

How is this different from udocker?

It's less bloated and it does not depend on Python.

How is this different from Podman

Podman is great, but you still need root privileges to install it. Besides it uses kernel.unprivileged_userns_clone which I am not a fan of.

Chroot is not as safe as Docker, you can easily get out of a chroot

Docker is not safe to start with (at least not as safe as a VM). I leave as an exercise to the reader to google why. Having that in mind, you are right, chroot and therefore PRoot are not secure, and they were never meant to be. If you are looking for security Dockie might not be for you.

Where are the guests/images stored in my PC?

They are in $HOME/.dockie.

Can I change the location of my guests/images?

Yes, you can.

How do I copy files to a guest?

You can either copy your files to $HOME/.dockie/guests/<ID>/rootfs or

cat file.txt | dockie exec <ID> /bin/sh -c 'cat > file.txt'

Can I use a local rootfs?

Yes, check out the dockie import command.

X doesn't work

Let me know!

Some of these FAQ are not actually questions

Whops.

Why shell scripts and not <insert your favorite programming language here>?

Because I wanted to keep the codebase as small as possible. If you have any comments/ideas/suggestions, please let me know.

Why does the website...?

The answer to your questions is probably "because I want to keep the website small and it has no JavaScript". If not, let me know.

Do programs with a GUI work with Dockie?

They work for the ones I've tried (Firefox, Thunderbird, GIMP) with the --gui flag but some others may not work. This is usually because the program needs a directory from the host mounted. You can either have a read at PRoot documentation and use PRoot with their flags manually or give me a shout and I'll check what are we missing for your program to work.

Who made that adorable whale?

All credit goes to Cristina Quero

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