Containerization on Linux Phones

Messing around with containerization with nspawn on the Librem 5.

This video explores using systemd-nspawn for containerization on Linux phones. Containers provide a way to run isolated environments, which can be useful for running different distributions or applications that might have conflicting dependencies.

Why Containerization on Phones?

Running containers on a Linux phone opens up interesting possibilities:

• Application isolation - Keep apps and their dependencies separate


• Multiple environments - Run different Linux distributions alongside PureOS


• Testing - Try new software without affecting the main system


• Development - Create reproducible build environments on mobile

systemd-nspawn

systemd-nspawn is a lightweight container solution that's part of systemd, making it well-suited for resource-constrained devices like phones. Unlike full Docker containers, nspawn provides a simpler, more direct approach to OS-level virtualization.

Resources

• Full blog post: https://www.hackers-game.com/2021/10/11/containerization-on-linux-phones/


• Source code: https://source.puri.sm/david.hamner/boxes

The project demonstrates that Linux phones can leverage the same containerization technologies used on desktop and server Linux systems.

Watch on YouTube