Not quite, there's no need to run a Linux VM on macOS just to spin up macOS VMs.

Since the host is already macOS, we leverage the Apple Virtualization Framework (Vz) directly via a lightweight background service (lume). The Docker container (Lumier) acts purely as a frontend and delivery mechanism for managing and launching VMs — there's no nested virtualization or Linux VM involved.

That said, you're absolutely right that macOS hardware isn’t cheap, and RAM can be a real constraint. If you're running multiple VMs or aiming for production-scale setups, options like Scaleway’s M4 Mac minis or EC2 Mac Metal instances offer more headroom.

Also worth noting: while Lumier supports virtualizing Linux VMs too, if your use case is only Linux, there are far more cost-effective options using KVM on Linux hosts.

Docker does seem to be an unnecessary overhead considering it's reliance on a Linux VM. What does Docker bring to the table that couldn't easily be replaced with a native Mac app?