Distrobox is a tool that allows you to run Linux distributions and applications in a containerized environment inside your terminal on your existing Linux system. It utilizes Podman, Docker, or Lilipod to create containers, enabling you to run software or entire distributions.
At the same time, the created containers are closely integrated with the host system, enabling the sharing of the user’s home directory, external storage, USB devices, graphical applications, and audio.
The tool has gained popularity among Linux enthusiasts over the last few years, so let’s see what the newly released Distrobox 1.6.0 version brings to the table.
What’s New in Distrobox 1.6.0
Distrobox 1.6.0 brings many enhancements and new features, solidifying its position as a versatile and robust solution for developers and system administrators.
The new version introduces Lilipod (a simple container and image manager) support, expanding its compatibility and usability within various ecosystems. Moreover, general improvements have been made to the initialization process, making the start-up of containers more efficient and reliable.
The highlight feature, however, in this release is the improvement in NVIDIA integration, with a particular focus on better support for CUDA. This enhancement is a boon for high-performance computing and AI development professionals.
Will continue by saying that rootful containers now properly set up user passwords for sudo, enhancing security and management. At the same time, the initful containers have received a general polish, improving their stability and performance.
And mentioning initful containers, we will not fail to add that they now also support OpenRC when present, expanding the range of init systems that Distrobox can work with.
Another striking feature in Distrobox 1.6.0 is the introduction of new unshare flags like --unshare-all, --unshare-netns, --unshare-process, --unshare-devsys in the create command, so the users can now easily create playgrounds for services such as LXC and Libvirt, enhancing testing and development environments.
Finally, the new version brings fixes and improvements in handling multi-icon and spaces in names during export. Additionally, exported binaries will be runnable across different distroboxes and always run in a login shell.
Check out the release notes for more details and the complete list of novelties in Distrobox 1.6.0.
