Docker Desktop - Since Docker Engine only runs on Linux, developers who use Windows and macOS for software development cannot run the engine until they spin up a virtual machine (VM) that runs linux.

This consists both of docker and docker-compose commands.

Docker CLI - This is the CLI that developers usually use to interact with the docker engine.

The engine can run on a physical or a virtual machine, but it can only run on top of a Linux kernel i.e. It is responsible for the container lifecycle and isolation of physical resources (compute, memory, storage) that containers can access. It is an open source software that runs on linux as a daemon that makes it possible to run containers on top of Linux kernel.

Docker Engine - The core technology behind Docker.

Docker Inc - It is a USA based company that produces some open-source and not-open source software that makes it easier to develop, test and run applications in containers.

This digression is just meant to ease the rest of the discussion. This is by no means a full conceptual architectural explanation of how Docker works and I would recommend exploring other resources on the web for that purpose.

I'll try to break down and explain each term. Experts who know Docker can skip this part.ĭocker can mean a lot of things. This digression explains terminology around Docker. With the disclaimer out of the way, let us deep dive into explaining a little around what is free, what is paid and how exactly can we continue to use 'containers', the core technology, without having to pay for Docker Desktop. has all the rights to monetize their product. This post does in no way discourages organizations in paying and I believe that Docker Inc. Usually this is not a cause for concern as a company with revenue greater than $10 million would be able to afford Docker Desktop's $5 per user/month starter pricing. It will remain free for personal and open-source projects and for organizations smaller than a certain size. recently announced that Docker Desktop would no longer remain a free product for large organizations.

Twitter LinkedIn GitHub Run Docker without Docker Desktop on macOSĭocker Inc.

How to install docker on mac