Distrobox

Distrobox

Distrobox is an open-source tool that allows users to run different Linux distributions and software containers as containers within their main Linux distribution. It makes it easy to try out other distros and software without having to reboot or set up virtual machines.
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Distrobox alternatives ➤

Distrobox: Run Linux Distributions & Containers on Main OS

Open-source tool for running multiple Linux distributions and software containers within a main Linux distribution, without rebooting or virtual machine setup.

What is Distrobox?

Distrobox is an open-source container-based application that enables users to run various Linux distributions and software natively on their host Linux system without requiring dual booting or virtual machines. It works by leveraging container technology to isolate distros and software into containers that operate using the host's Linux kernel.

With Distrobox, you can easily install packages and run applications from Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, Fedora and other Linux distributions on top of your current distro. This makes it convenient to test drive alternate distros and tools without rebooting or incurring the overhead of virtualization.

Some key features and benefits of Distrobox include:

  • Simple installation of additional distros via pre-made container images
  • Access packages from various Linux distributions in one place
  • Quick and lightweight containers compared to virtual machines
  • Avoids rebooting or dual booting host system
  • Easy to install alongside existing Linux tools and environments
  • Open source (GitHub) with an active community

Overall, Distrobox aims to be a flexible container platform for Linux users to combine the strengths of multiple distros and software tools on a single machine. It enables Linux experimentation, development, and workspace consolidation without the hassles often associated with managing different Linux distributions.

Distrobox Features

Features

  1. Allows running multiple Linux distros as containers within the host Linux distro
  2. Makes it easy to try out different distros without rebooting or setting up VMs
  3. Open source tool for containerizing distros and apps
  4. Uses system containers to isolate distros and apps from host system
  5. Supports Docker and LXC backends for containers
  6. Simple CLI for managing containers
  7. Persistent storage for containers
  8. Shares network stack and user space with host distro

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Easy to install and use

Good performance since containers share resources with host

More lightweight than VMs

Allows using different distros and apps in isolation

Open source with active development

Allows testing software safely without affecting host system

Cons

Less isolation than virtual machines

Host and containers must use same Linux kernel

More resource overhead than native apps

Not all distros and software work in containers

Can be complex to configure for some use cases

Official Links

Official Website
https://distrobox.it

The Best Distrobox Alternatives

Top Os & Utilities and Linux Tools and other similar apps like Distrobox

Here are some alternatives to Distrobox:

Docker icon
Docker
KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) icon
KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine)
LXC Linux Containers icon
LXC Linux Containers
Containerd icon
containerd
OpenVZ icon
OpenVZ
Suggest an alternative ❐

Docker icon

Docker

Docker is an open platform for developing, shipping, and running applications inside software containers. It provides an additional layer of abstraction and automation of operating-system-level virtualization on Linux, Mac OS and Windows.Docker packages software into standardized units called containers that have everything the software needs to run including libraries, system...
Docker image
KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) icon

KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine)

KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is an open-source virtualization technology built into Linux. It allows you to create and run virtual machines (VMs) on any Linux server or desktop with hardware virtualization capabilities.KVM is implemented as a kernel module that leverages the virtualization extensions of modern CPUs like Intel VT or...
KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) image
LXC Linux Containers icon

LXC Linux Containers

LXC (Linux Containers) is an operating-system-level virtualization technology that allows multiple isolated Linux systems to run on a single Linux host. LXC relies on cgroups and namespaces functionality in the Linux kernel to provide strong isolation of resources like CPU, memory, block I/O and network between containers.Some key characteristics of...
LXC Linux Containers image
Containerd icon

Containerd

containerd is an open source container runtime that is designed to manage the complete container lifecycle for its host system or server. This includes pulling container images, managing storage and network resources, executing containers, monitoring them, and more.Some key things to know about containerd:It is lightweight, portable and runs on...
Containerd image
OpenVZ icon

OpenVZ

OpenVZ is an open source container-based virtualization platform for Linux operating systems. It provides operating system-level virtualization that allows multiple isolated virtual containers, called Virtual Private Servers (VPSs), to run on a single physical server.With OpenVZ, each VPS runs its own operating system and applications separate from the other VPSs...
OpenVZ image