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y0ssar1an • today at 4:03 PM • 7 replies • view on HN

The best alternative to Docker Desktop on macOS is to abandon the GUI entirely use colima to create the linux VM.

    brew install colima docker docker-buildx docker-completion docker-compose
    export DOCKER_HOST="$HOME/.colima/docker.sock" >> ~/.zshrc
    source ~/.zshrc
    colima start --cpus 8 --vz-rosetta --ssh-agent --mount $HOME:w
then add this line to your $HOME/.docker/config.json

    "cliPluginsExtraDirs": ["/opt/homebrew/lib/docker/cli-plugins"],
that will get you a fast virtiofs VM with the latest docker, including compose and buildx. it may seem scary to replace an officially blessed tool like Docker Desktop, but i have had zero issues with colima. it isn't "docker compatible". it's docker. just need to run `brew upgrade` and `colima update` every once in a while to keep it up to date.

Replies

jpalmer • today at 6:19 PM

I've been using Finch (https://runfinch.com/) for the last few years, it basically is a managed Lima, nerdctl, containerd and BuildKit.

I just alias docker to finch and it just works.

seemaze • today at 6:16 PM

If you're going full CLI on macOS, I've had the best experience with:

    brew install podman
Podman manages the linux vm for you automatically.

I've come to enjoy podman more than docker on my linux hosts anway; the default runtime (crun) is lighter than docker (runc), podman-kube-play is great for managing multi-container pods and is compatible with kubernetes. It also integrates very neatly with systemd. Of course there is the whole daemon-less and rootless side of the things as well..

a456463 • today at 7:19 PM

Thank you!!! Been struggling with time skew on Podman desktop for around a year now with no fix in sight. At least in the initial test since I saw your comment a few hours ago, this is working great!

jaimehrubiks • today at 4:07 PM

Does this support volume bind mounts and port forwarding?

➕ show 1 reply
eknkc • today at 4:50 PM

I’ve been using OrbStack instead of Docker Desktop and gotta say, I’d not replace it with anything else. So if anyones looking for a more automated alternative, check out OrbStack.

➕ show 1 reply
hmokiguess • today at 6:18 PM

Same, been running on colima for years now and haven't had a single issue with it

stock_toaster • today at 5:09 PM

I you fancy needing a GUI, rancher desktop is decent.