Docker Desktop has arrived on Linux. Docker thus fulfills one of the requests most demanded by developers in the product roadmap, although it does so later than desirable, with Docker Desktop for Windows and Mac available for some time and with the competition lurking more and more.
Docker Desktop is a kind of IDE made up of Docker Engine, Docker CLI Client, Docker Compose, Docker Content Trust, BuildKit, Kubernetes and Credential Helper with which to build quickly containerized applications and microservices. It has become quite popular for some time now as an integral solution for container management and it was only missing for it to appear for Linux.
As you can see, Docker Desktop is prepared not only to create containers, but also to manage them with Kubernetes, all through the same visual interface. In addition, the package includes Docker Extensions, extensions with which to integrate third-party tools into the Docker Desktop workflow, improving its capabilities or helping its correct configuration, for example in terms of security.
In summary, Docker Desktop has arrived on Linux with the complete package and anyone interested in trying it can find all the information about it in the project documentation, including the System Requirementsincluding a 64-bit kernel with support for virtualization, KVM, QEMU 5.2 or higher, although the latest version is recommended, GNOME or KDE desktop environments, and a minimum of 4 GB of RAM.
Be careful, however, with the level of support that is being given, since there are only installers in formats Deb and RPM and some of the users who are testing it on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or Fedora 36, two recent and important releases that should be perfectly supported, report execution problems due to the lack of dependencies.
It should also be noted that Docker Desktop works under a SaS model (software as a service or software as a service) through subscription payment, but only for companies with more than 250 employees or a turnover of more than 10 million dollars per year. As long as those requirements are not met, Docker Desktop is free for users and small businesses.
The question that this release raises, however, is whether it comes too late, with Podman establishing itself as the most advanced native option for creating and managing containers on Linux, as well as an alternative that already has compatibility with tools like Docker Compose.
