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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.
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.
Pros of CoreOS
- Container management20
- Lightweight15
- Systemd11
Pros of Debian
- Massively supported53
- Stable48
- Reliable19
- Turnkey linux use it8
- Aptitude8
- Customizable7
- It is free7
- Works on all architectures5
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Cons of CoreOS
- End-of-lifed3
Cons of Debian
- Old versions of software9
- Can be difficult to set up on vanilla Debian2