Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

OpenShift Container Platform VS LinuxKit

Compare OpenShift Container Platform VS LinuxKit and see what are their differences

OpenShift Container Platform logo OpenShift Container Platform

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform is the secure and comprehensive enterprise-grade container platform based on industry standards, Docker and Kubernetes.

LinuxKit logo LinuxKit

A toolkit for building secure, portable and lean operating systems for containers
  • OpenShift Container Platform Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-04
  • LinuxKit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-23

OpenShift Container Platform features and specs

  • Comprehensive Kubernetes Platform
    OpenShift Container Platform provides a robust, enterprise-grade Kubernetes environment with advanced features for application lifecycle management, networking, and security out-of-the-box.
  • Integrated Developer Tools
    The platform includes integrated developer tools such as source-to-image (S2I) build systems and Jenkins pipelines, which streamline development workflows and enhance productivity.
  • Multi-cloud Support
    OpenShift supports hybrid and multi-cloud deployments, allowing organizations to run workloads across on-premises, bare metal, and multiple public cloud providers seamlessly.
  • Enhanced Security Features
    The platform offers advanced security capabilities such as built-in compliance checks, role-based access control (RBAC), and automated security updates to protect workloads from vulnerabilities.
  • Rich Ecosystem and Integrations
    OpenShift integrates seamlessly with a wide range of Red Hat and third-party tools and services, providing a rich ecosystem for building, deploying, and managing containerized applications.

Possible disadvantages of OpenShift Container Platform

  • Complexity
    The platform's extensive features and capabilities can lead to a steep learning curve, making it challenging for teams without prior Kubernetes or OpenShift experience.
  • Cost
    OpenShift Container Platform can be costly, especially for large-scale deployments, as it includes enterprise-grade support and additional tooling not found in vanilla Kubernetes.
  • Resource Intensive
    The platform may require significant compute and storage resources to run efficiently, which can be a consideration for organizations with limited infrastructure capacity.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    While OpenShift is based on open-source Kubernetes, certain features and integrations are Red Hat-specific, possibly leading to a degree of vendor lock-in.
  • Operational Overhead
    Managing and maintaining an OpenShift environment can introduce additional operational overhead due to its comprehensive but complex nature, requiring dedicated staff and expertise.

LinuxKit features and specs

  • Portability
    LinuxKit allows users to build custom, lightweight Linux distributions that can run on multiple platforms, improving the portability and flexibility of deployments.
  • Security
    LinuxKit focuses on security by providing minimal and immutable infrastructure, reducing the attack surface and making it easier to apply updates and patches.
  • Containerization
    LinuxKit is designed to build container-based systems, allowing developers to easily leverage container technologies to create reproducible and consistent environments.
  • Modularity
    It enables creation of modular systems where users can include only the components they need, optimizing for performance and resource usage.
  • Community Support
    As an open-source project with active contributions and support from a large community and Docker, LinuxKit benefits from continuous improvements and a wide range of available resources.

Possible disadvantages of LinuxKit

  • Complexity
    Setting up and maintaining a LinuxKit-based system can be complex and might require a deep understanding of both Linux and container technologies.
  • Learning Curve
    For users unfamiliar with creating custom Linux distributions or containerization, there is a significant learning curve associated with effectively using LinuxKit.
  • Limited Use Cases
    LinuxKit is optimized for creating secure, portable, and lean OS images, but it may not be suited for all workloads, especially those requiring a full-featured operating system or extensive GUI support.
  • Community and Documentation
    While LinuxKit has community support, the ecosystem and documentation may not be as extensive or mature as more established platforms, potentially leading to self-reliance in troubleshooting and implementation.

OpenShift Container Platform videos

OpenShift Container Platform by RedHat | Kubernetes Made Easy | Tech Primers

LinuxKit videos

How LinuxKit Made Tinkerbell More Magical with Justin Cormack and Dan Finneran

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to OpenShift Container Platform and LinuxKit)
Developer Tools
87 87%
13% 13
DevOps Tools
75 75%
25% 25
Containers As A Service
100 100%
0% 0
Linux
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare OpenShift Container Platform and LinuxKit

OpenShift Container Platform Reviews

11 Best Rancher Alternatives Multi Cluster Orchestration Platform
On the flip side, the OpenShift Container Platform is a powerful commercialized tool introduced by Red Hat as flagship software. It boasts a very simple and intuitive user interface that lets you easily create, build, test, and deploy your applications directly to the cloud.

LinuxKit Reviews

We have no reviews of LinuxKit yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, LinuxKit seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 9 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

OpenShift Container Platform mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of OpenShift Container Platform yet. Tracking of OpenShift Container Platform recommendations started around Mar 2021.

LinuxKit mentions (9)

  • Docker Containers | Linux Namespaces | Container Isolation
    Note: Namespaces are a feature of the linux kernel. But Docker allows you to run containers on Windows and Mac... How does that work? The secret is that embedded in the Docker product or Docker engine is a linux subsystem. Docker open-sourced this linux subsystem to a new project: LinuxKit. Being able to run containers on many different platforms is one advantage of using the Docker tooling with containers. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Gokrazy – Go Appliances
    Another project that aims to deliver this is Linuxkit (https://github.com/linuxkit/linuxkit). All the components they ship are written in memory safe languages (usually Go) and run as containers under containerd. You can build a custom image very easily, fully defined as a YAML file. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • An overview of single-purpose Linux distributions
    Docker-the-company maintained https://github.com/linuxkit/linuxkit. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Create a minimalist OS using Docker Containers and Hashicorp Packer
    LF-Edge EVE project leverages Linuxkit to create custom OSs for Edge Devices which in turn leverages Containers as Lego Blocks. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Unpopular opinion: I was promised lightweight containers but I got yet another VM
    Behind the scenes Docker Desktop for Mac spawns a linuxkit VM with a bit of extra stuff like NFS to enable mounting Mac paths into containers. In the Docker Desktop settings you'll find the current resource assignment for that VM. That is pretty much reserved for docker so that it does not have to compete with MacOS processes for available resources. Source: over 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing OpenShift Container Platform and LinuxKit, you can also consider the following products

Docker - Docker is an open platform that enables developers and system administrators to create distributed applications.

Ottomatica slim - Build and run tiny vms from Dockerfiles. Small and sleek. - ottomatica/slim

Google Kubernetes Engine - Google Kubernetes Engine is a powerful cluster manager and orchestration system for running your Docker containers. Set up a cluster in minutes.

Kitematic - The easiest way to start using Docker on your Mac

Amazon ECS - Amazon EC2 Container Service is a highly scalable, high-performance​ container management service that supports Docker containers.

RancherOS - A simplified Linux distribution built from containers, for containers. Everything in RancherOS is managed by Docker, with minimum software needed to run Docker.