CHchriswarbo·Dec 16, 2021
I do a similar thing using Lima (which uses Qemu under the hood) https://github.com/lima-vm/lima
(I'm not a fan of Docker, but unfortunately work on some projects that use it)
In QEMU 6.2lima-vm
lima
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lima-vm / lima
lima
Linux virtual machines, with a focus on running containers
68Distinct people
78Mentions
2Explicit recommenders
22.3KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
Linux virtual machines, with a focus on running containers
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
I recommend looking at Lima for setting up deterministic build environments on a Mac! I use it with Ansible to provision testing environments: https://github.com/lima-vm/lima
bonsai_spool used a recommendation phrase. 2 indexed comments match. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
- abiosoft/colima · linked in 5 of the same discussions
Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 8–Nov 15 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/15/2026, 5:05:26 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year78 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2021-05-14 08:19:47 UTC to 2026-10-12 09:44:47 UTC.
* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 11 | 4 | 7 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 30 | 1 | 29 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 17 | 0 | 17 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 8 | 1 | 7 |
| 2025 | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 9 | 1 | 8 |
| 2026 (partial) | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 0 | 3 |
What Hacker News says
11 sourcesLima: Linux virtual machines (on macOS, in most cases)
1 points · Open discussionLima is a new and better option for this, it does not use a bundled Ruby runtime and does not use anything from Oracle. Just Go and QEMU... See https://github.com/lima-vm/lima
In How to Replace Docker with Podman on a Machttps://github.com/lima-vm/lima may fit your usecase
In Migrating from Docker to PodmanLima[0] also looks like a promising replacement on macOS. It manages provisioning a VM with nerdctl[1] installed, networking, and shared storage. The project has a support path for ARM Macs with a patch QEMU.
[0]: https://github.com/lima-vm/lima
[1]: https://github.com/containerd/nerdctl
In Migrating from Docker to PodmanMultipass uses reverse sshfs for mounting into the VM. This is a concept also used by lima now. https://github.com/lima-vm/lima
In Docker Desktop no longer free for large companiesLima is also a solid alternative for macOS users. https://github.com/lima-vm/lima It runs containerd+nerdctl but I've heard it can also be set up to run Moby engine (docker). https://twitter.com/_AkihiroSuda_/status/1432906244860223493
In An Overview of Docker Desktop AlternativesThanks for the feedback. A Linux version is in the roadmap for this fall. I've had several discussions on it in the past week.
Part of this was due to priorities and part of it was technicalities. For example, do we put it in a VM so that way someone can easily blow things away and we don't touch the base system? We had to come to some direction on what we wanted to do there. Now that we have that idea we need to finish up one thing on Mac that will translate over to Linux.
The Linux side will be based on Lima[1] just as the Mac side is.
Earlier today I had a discussion on the packaging format.
[1] https://github.com/lima-vm/lima
In Docker Desktop no longer free for large companiesLima is like a “macOS subsystem for Linux”
11 points · Open discussionShow HN: Lima: Linux-on-Mac (“macOS Subsystem for Linux”, “Containerd for Mac”)
2 points · Open discussion