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CoreOS

225
292
+ 1
46
Debian

15.2K
10.4K
+ 1
155
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CoreOS vs Debian: What are the differences?

Developers describe CoreOS as "Linux for Massive Server Deployments". CoreOS is designed for security, consistency, and reliability. Instead of installing packages via yum or apt, CoreOS uses Linux containers to manage your services at a higher level of abstraction. A single service's code and all dependencies are packaged within a container that can be run on one or many CoreOS machines. On the other hand, Debian is detailed as "The Universal Operating System". Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel or the FreeBSD kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide. FreeBSD is an operating system including a kernel and other software.

CoreOS and Debian belong to "Operating Systems" category of the tech stack.

"Container management" is the primary reason why developers consider CoreOS over the competitors, whereas "Massively supported " was stated as the key factor in picking Debian.

According to the StackShare community, Debian has a broader approval, being mentioned in 387 company stacks & 390 developers stacks; compared to CoreOS, which is listed in 45 company stacks and 12 developer stacks.

Decisions about CoreOS and Debian
Dimelo Waterson

Coming from a Debian-based Linux background, using the Ubuntu base image for my Docker containers was a natural choice. However, the overhead, even on the impressively-slimmed Hub images, was hard to justify. Seeking to create images that were "just right" in size, without unused packages or dependencies, I made the switch to Alpine.

Alpine's modified BusyBox has a surprising amount of functionality, and the package repository contains plenty of muslc-safe versions of commonly-used packages. It's been a valuable exercise in doing more with less, and, as Alpine is keen to point out, an image with fewer packages makes for a more sustainable environment with a smaller attack surface.

My only regret is that Alpine's documentation leaves a lot to be desired.

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Pros of CoreOS
Pros of Debian
  • 20
    Container management
  • 15
    Lightweight
  • 11
    Systemd
  • 53
    Massively supported
  • 48
    Stable
  • 19
    Reliable
  • 8
    Turnkey linux use it
  • 8
    Aptitude
  • 7
    Customizable
  • 7
    It is free
  • 5
    Works on all architectures

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Cons of CoreOS
Cons of Debian
  • 3
    End-of-lifed
  • 9
    Old versions of software
  • 2
    Can be difficult to set up on vanilla Debian

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What is CoreOS?

It is designed for security, consistency, and reliability. Instead of installing packages via yum or apt, it uses Linux containers to manage your services at a higher level of abstraction. A single service's code and all dependencies are packaged within a container that can be run on one or many machines.

What is Debian?

Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel or the FreeBSD kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide. FreeBSD is an operating system including a kernel and other software.

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What companies use CoreOS?
What companies use Debian?
See which teams inside your own company are using CoreOS or Debian.
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What tools integrate with CoreOS?
What tools integrate with Debian?

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What are some alternatives to CoreOS and Debian?
Docker
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
LinuxKit
LinuxKit, a toolkit for building custom minimal, immutable Linux distributions. Designed for building and running clustered applications, including but not limited to container orchestration such as Docker or Kubernetes.
Rancher
Rancher is an open source container management platform that includes full distributions of Kubernetes, Apache Mesos and Docker Swarm, and makes it simple to operate container clusters on any cloud or infrastructure platform.
Docker Swarm
Swarm serves the standard Docker API, so any tool which already communicates with a Docker daemon can use Swarm to transparently scale to multiple hosts: Dokku, Compose, Krane, Deis, DockerUI, Shipyard, Drone, Jenkins... and, of course, the Docker client itself.
Ubuntu
Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning ‘humanity to others’. It also means ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. The Ubuntu operating system brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the world of computers.
See all alternatives