friendica.eskimo.com
FOSS lightweight ”virtual machine” (it’s not quite a VM but it’s similar conceptually. It’s much lighter on your system than a VM).
Easy to install, setting it up for your use case may take some coding if it isn’t common (bash scripting experience will help).
Docker and podman aren't too bad nowadays I don't think assuming you're not running something huge
(Podman is another tool that does the same thing as docker)
Docker and podman containers are basically like throwaway mini-vms that contain one application to ensure it will always run no matter where so long as the machine you're running them on can run docker
They can run CLI stuff just fine, I'm not sure about desktop apps someone smarter than me will probably tell you about that
I know this isn't Reddit, but r/peopleliveincities... When 90% of desktop users use Windows, it's going to both be the most targeted by malware developers and have the highest chance of being operated by someone who doesn't understand enough about computers to recognize that the shiny calculator app that just popped up after visiting a very legit Nigerian prince's crowdfunding page probably shouldn't need admin access.
And speaking of user error, I'm willing to bet that basic security practices like using full disk encryption, SecureBoot, some MAC layer (provided by antivirus on Windows, AppArmor/SELinux on Linux) and regularly applying security updates are way more common over in the Windows land - if I was in a situation where there was one completely randomly selected Windows PC and one also completely randomly selected Linux PC, and my life depended on being able to gain access to either of them (some kind of really messed up Saw trap? idk), I would definitely bet my life on the Linux one being misconfigured.
Don't get me wrong, Linux can make for a very secure and private OS, but most installs most definitely cannot be described as such - just look at the popularity of random unverified PPAs on Ubuntu derivatives or AUR packages on Arch.
do some research or something jesus lmao. Linux servers, on average, are much higher profile entities to target, typically has more eyes watching them for problems, and technically literate people administrating them. meanwhile your typical windows machine is used by non technical, every day users who do very little proper security practices and threat mitigations.
you get a better ROI targeting windows users than you do, Linux users.
The umbrella project behind Incus, LXC, LXCFS, Distrobuilder and more.linuxcontainers.org
Docker, Distrobox, Toybox, systemd-nspawn, chroot.
Technically those all rely on the same kernel namespace features, just different ways to use it.
That's also what Flatpaks and Snaps do. If you only care about package bloat, an AppImage would do too but it's not a sandbox like Flatpak.
Podman goes well with Kubernetes. It also is more performant than docker.
I use both
IIRC that's the whole point of flatpak, snap and appimage
Docker can probably do it too, distrobox puts a useful wrapper on that
Nix does that kind of, nix packages aren't isolated in that they can't access resources on your system but all dependencies are stored in the nix store, hashed and isolated from eachother, and wiped when you collect garbage
One way or another, if you want to run an application you are gonna need its dependencies (the key is the name)... they may be bundled into an appimage or come as part of flatpak ruintime, or be confined inside a container, or live in the nix store, but they will "bloat" your system anyway.
Learn how to cleanup your system (ie. uninstall all packages that are not needed by others that have been requested explicitly) and live a happy life. Only bother with other solutions if the software (or version) you need isn't available for your distro.
Go with one of the ready to use systems. Flatpak, Snap, AppImage. Snap is largely Ubuntu Ecosystem, Flatpak is independent. AppImage is an option if you do not need/want a Sandbox.
Stay away from Docker and LXC for this use case (graphical applications), they are much more work to get going.
Yes, Docker apps are more appropriate for servers and most apps are "made" to run 24/7 to serv the home or workplace.
They are very much worth the "work to setup" as they can be transfered/replicated to any system.
Flatpak and the alike are for running apps on a desktop/laptop.
You can just use podman+distrobox
Simple and rootless
There is always firejail which is very "even your mom can use it" in terms of usage.
e.g install it, type cd / && sudo firecfg, then your password and thats it.
Linux namespaces and seccomp-bpf sandbox. Contribute to netblue30/firejail development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHub
It depends on your usecase. We need more detail regarding what application (gui/cui/open source/proprietary/custom) you are trying to use
If the application doesn't exist in those platforms, it's a different story. You might need to use distrobox or docker. Don't use nix because it's overkill for what you want to do.
