Docker Announces Linux Kit and Moby Project

Docker Inc., the company behind the Linux container project with the same name, announced two new projects at DockerCon called Linux Kit and Moby Project.

Linux Kit is essentially a toolkit that allows organizations to build their own containerized Linux subsystems. A Docker press release stated: “LinuxKit allows users to create very secure Linux subsystems because it is designed around containers. All of the processes, including system daemons, run in containers, enabling users to assemble a Linux subsystem with only the needed services. As a result, systems created with LinuxKit have a smaller attack surface than general purpose systems. It also provides a read-only root file-system for an immutable infrastructure approach to deployments enabled by InfraKit. LinuxKit will have a community-first security process and will serve as an incubator for security-related innovations like Wireguard and Landlock.”

Docker itself is using the kit to build different editions of Docker, such as Docker for Mac, Docker for Windows, and Docker for Cloud. Docker is taking this core component out and releasing it as an open source project. The company is considering donating it to the Linux Foundation.

The second project that the company announced is Moby Project, a framework that helps organizations assemble the new systems using components of their choice.

Solomon Hykes, Founder and CTO of Docker said, “This project will be the most important project at Docker since the launch of Docker itself as it provides the ecosystem with a way to create, share, use and build container systems in a way that hasn’t been possible with any open source project in the past.”

Docker is touting Moby Project as the “Fedora” of the container world that the entire industry can collaborate to improve it.

Unlike Linux Kit, Moby Project will remain a Docker-sponsored project.