Docker vs Yocto

Overview

Docker

Stacks194.2K

Followers143.8K

Votes3.9K

Yocto

Stacks70

Followers65

Votes0

Docker vs Yocto: What are the differences?

Introduction

Docker and Yocto are both popular tools in the field of software development and deployment. While they serve different purposes, they have some key differences that set them apart.

Packaging and Isolation: Docker is a containerization platform that allows developers to package their applications and dependencies into a lightweight, isolated environment called a container. It provides a consistent and portable runtime environment, ensuring that the application runs consistently regardless of the underlying system. On the other hand, Yocto is a build system that allows developers to create customized Linux distributions for embedded systems. It focuses on building complete operating systems for specific hardware platforms rather than isolating applications.
Flexibility and Customizability: Docker excels in providing flexibility and customizability. It allows developers to choose from a wide range of base images and easily install additional software packages inside the container as needed. It supports the use of container orchestration tools like Kubernetes, making it easy to manage and scale containers in a distributed environment. Yocto, on the other hand, offers a high level of customizability but requires more manual configuration. It allows developers to define the target hardware, select the software components to include, and configure various aspects of the operating system, providing fine-grained control over the final image.
Layered Approach: Docker uses a layered approach to build and manage containers. Each container is composed of multiple layers, with each layer representing a change to the file system. This allows for efficient use of disk space, as multiple containers can share common base layers. Yocto also employs a layered approach, but at a different level. It allows developers to create a layered structure for the entire Linux distribution, enabling modularity and easy reusability of components. This promotes efficient development, maintenance, and customization of the embedded Linux system.
Target Audience: Docker is primarily targeted towards developers and DevOps professionals who need to package, deploy, and run applications in a consistent manner across different environments. It abstracts away the underlying infrastructure and provides a high level of portability. Yocto, on the other hand, is designed for embedded systems developers who need to build custom Linux distributions for specific hardware platforms. It allows for fine-tuning and optimization of the operating system, making it suitable for resource-constrained environments.
Development Workflow: Docker focuses on simplifying the development workflow by providing easy-to-use tools for building, distributing, and running containers. It promotes a "build once, run anywhere" approach, where containers can be built locally and then deployed to any system that supports Docker. Yocto, on the other hand, requires more upfront configuration and setup. It provides a set of tools for building a custom Linux distribution from source code, which involves defining the hardware platform, software components, and build configurations. This makes it more suitable for long-term and large-scale development projects.
Community and Ecosystem: Docker has a large and active community, with a wide range of pre-built images available on Docker Hub. It has a rich ecosystem of tools and services that integrate well with Docker, such as container orchestration platforms, continuous integration/delivery systems, and monitoring/logging solutions. Yocto also has a strong community, but it is more specialized towards embedded systems development. It provides a collection of recipes and layers that can be shared and reused among developers building embedded Linux systems.

In summary, Docker and Yocto are both powerful tools in their respective domains. Docker focuses on containerization and simplifying the deployment of applications, while Yocto emphasizes building customized Linux distributions for embedded systems. However, Docker provides more flexibility, layering capabilities, and a broader target audience, while Yocto offers fine-grained control, customizability, and a specialized ecosystem for embedded systems development.

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Advice on Docker, Yocto

Florian

IT DevOp at Agitos GmbH

Oct 22, 2019

Decided

lxd/lxc and Docker aren't congruent so this comparison needs a more detailed look; but in short I can say: the lxd-integrated administration of storage including zfs with its snapshot capabilities as well as the system container (multi-process) approach of lxc vs. the limited single-process container approach of Docker is the main reason I chose lxd over Docker.

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Detailed Comparison

Docker	Yocto
The Docker Platform is the industry-leading container platform for continuous, high-velocity innovation, enabling organizations to seamlessly build and share any application — from legacy to what comes next — and securely run them anywhere	It is an open source collaboration project that helps developers create custom Linux-based systems regardless of the hardware architecture. It provides a flexible set of tools and a space where embedded developers worldwide can share technologies, software stacks, configurations, and best practices that can be used to create tailored Linux images for embedded and IOT devices, or anywhere a customized Linux OS is needed.
Integrated developer tools; open, portable images; shareable, reusable apps; framework-aware builds; standardized templates; multi-environment support; remote registry management; simple setup for Docker and Kubernetes; certified Kubernetes; application templates; enterprise controls; secure software supply chain; industry-leading container runtime; image scanning; access controls; image signing; caching and mirroring; image lifecycle; policy-based image promotion	Open source embedded Linux build system; package metadata; SDK generator;
Statistics
Stacks 194.2K	Stacks 70
Followers 143.8K	Followers 65
Votes 3.9K	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 823 Rapid integration and build up 692 Isolation 521 Open source 505 Testability and reproducibility 460 Lightweight Cons 8 New versions == broken features 6 Documentation not always in sync 6 Unreliable networking 4 Moves quickly 3 Not Secure	No community feedback yet
Integrations
Java Docker Compose VirtualBox Linux Amazon EC2 Container Service Docker Swarm boot2docker Kubernetes Docker Machine Vagrant	Jenkins Eclipse

What are some alternatives to Docker, Yocto?

AWS CloudFormation

You can use AWS CloudFormation’s sample templates or create your own templates to describe the AWS resources, and any associated dependencies or runtime parameters, required to run your application. You don’t need to figure out the order in which AWS services need to be provisioned or the subtleties of how to make those dependencies work.

LXD

LXD isn't a rewrite of LXC, in fact it's building on top of LXC to provide a new, better user experience. Under the hood, LXD uses LXC through liblxc and its Go binding to create and manage the containers. It's basically an alternative to LXC's tools and distribution template system with the added features that come from being controllable over the network.

Packer

Packer automates the creation of any type of machine image. It embraces modern configuration management by encouraging you to use automated scripts to install and configure the software within your Packer-made images.

Scalr

Scalr is a remote state & operations backend for Terraform with access controls, policy as code, and many quality of life features.

Pulumi

Pulumi is a cloud development platform that makes creating cloud programs easy and productive. Skip the YAML and just write code. Pulumi is multi-language, multi-cloud and fully extensible in both its engine and ecosystem of packages.

LXC

LXC is a userspace interface for the Linux kernel containment features. Through a powerful API and simple tools, it lets Linux users easily create and manage system or application containers.

Azure Resource Manager

It is the deployment and management service for Azure. It provides a management layer that enables you to create, update, and delete resources in your Azure subscription. You use management features, like access control, locks, and tags, to secure and organize your resources after deployment.

rkt

Rocket is a cli for running App Containers. The goal of rocket is to be composable, secure, and fast.

Habitat

Habitat is a new approach to automation that focuses on the application instead of the infrastructure it runs on. With Habitat, the apps you build, deploy, and manage behave consistently in any runtime — metal, VMs, containers, and PaaS. You'll spend less time on the environment and more time building features.

Google Cloud Deployment Manager

Google Cloud Deployment Manager allows you to specify all the resources needed for your application in a declarative format using yaml.

Related Comparisons

Docker vs Yocto: What are the differences?

Introduction

Docker and Yocto are both popular tools in the field of software development and deployment. While they serve different purposes, they have some key differences that set them apart.

Packaging and Isolation: Docker is a containerization platform that allows developers to package their applications and dependencies into a lightweight, isolated environment called a container. It provides a consistent and portable runtime environment, ensuring that the application runs consistently regardless of the underlying system. On the other hand, Yocto is a build system that allows developers to create customized Linux distributions for embedded systems. It focuses on building complete operating systems for specific hardware platforms rather than isolating applications.
Flexibility and Customizability: Docker excels in providing flexibility and customizability. It allows developers to choose from a wide range of base images and easily install additional software packages inside the container as needed. It supports the use of container orchestration tools like Kubernetes, making it easy to manage and scale containers in a distributed environment. Yocto, on the other hand, offers a high level of customizability but requires more manual configuration. It allows developers to define the target hardware, select the software components to include, and configure various aspects of the operating system, providing fine-grained control over the final image.
Layered Approach: Docker uses a layered approach to build and manage containers. Each container is composed of multiple layers, with each layer representing a change to the file system. This allows for efficient use of disk space, as multiple containers can share common base layers. Yocto also employs a layered approach, but at a different level. It allows developers to create a layered structure for the entire Linux distribution, enabling modularity and easy reusability of components. This promotes efficient development, maintenance, and customization of the embedded Linux system.
Target Audience: Docker is primarily targeted towards developers and DevOps professionals who need to package, deploy, and run applications in a consistent manner across different environments. It abstracts away the underlying infrastructure and provides a high level of portability. Yocto, on the other hand, is designed for embedded systems developers who need to build custom Linux distributions for specific hardware platforms. It allows for fine-tuning and optimization of the operating system, making it suitable for resource-constrained environments.
Development Workflow: Docker focuses on simplifying the development workflow by providing easy-to-use tools for building, distributing, and running containers. It promotes a "build once, run anywhere" approach, where containers can be built locally and then deployed to any system that supports Docker. Yocto, on the other hand, requires more upfront configuration and setup. It provides a set of tools for building a custom Linux distribution from source code, which involves defining the hardware platform, software components, and build configurations. This makes it more suitable for long-term and large-scale development projects.
Community and Ecosystem: Docker has a large and active community, with a wide range of pre-built images available on Docker Hub. It has a rich ecosystem of tools and services that integrate well with Docker, such as container orchestration platforms, continuous integration/delivery systems, and monitoring/logging solutions. Yocto also has a strong community, but it is more specialized towards embedded systems development. It provides a collection of recipes and layers that can be shared and reused among developers building embedded Linux systems.

Docker vs Yocto

Overview

Docker vs Yocto: What are the differences?