TL;DR

brew install colima docker-cli
colima start
docker ps

No need to brew install --cask docker anymore!

Wait, what’s the problem with Docker Desktop?

A few years back, Docker Desktop for MacOS and Windows became no longer free for large businesses. This is because of some license changes .

Sure, for smaller businesses and personal use, you can still use it.

Cool, I’ll just use Rancher Desktop at work then.

That’s a totally valid alternative.

But personally, I don’t like it either.

On MacOS, if you wanted to use Docker, you had to install Docker Desktop and Docker CLI. Docker Desktop handles all the nitty gritty stuff in the backend to spin up a VM for your containers, which the CLI then interacts with. It’s pretty much the same concept for Rancher.

Therein lies the problem with Rancher Desktop and Docker Desktop for me.

I really don’t need another GUI to clutter my computer when all I need is a solid CLI tool. I honestly can’t be bothered with all the features and bloat that come with a GUI solution.

The best solution is one where I can just use the Docker CLI just like on Linux.

Okay, what do you suggest then?

That’s where colima comes in.

Basically it does all that VM and container work for you, but via a CLI!

I’m not gonna pretend like I understand it all, but it uses containerd and lima under the hood to allow container management, hence the name.

Plus, colima is free as in libre.