Podman

About Podman

Cross platform
Has podman desktop
Can replace Docker for running containers
Can manage pods like K8s
Podman can interact with K8s, for example, export pod definitions to k8s yaml like
- podman generate kube wordpress-pod > wordpress-pod.yaml

Docker: Client-server model, Docker daemon has root privileges
- Vulnerability
Podman: CLI opens a new process for a container
- Integrated with SystemD
- No Daemon
- Containers run in rootless mode by default
  - Users can have root access in containers, but will have unprivileged access in host

Docker has a large ecosystem, 3rd party tools
podman may require more building ready made images
podman ecosystem is growing
Choose podman when:
- Security is important
- Working with K8s
- Need lightweight container engine
- Want SystemD integration
Choose docker when:
- Want a mature ecosystem, documentation, more beginner friendly
- Need Docker Swarm for orchestration
- Team already knows Docker
Alternatively, use both and decide on their strengths or use them for specific use cases