mirror of
https://github.com/containers/podman.git
synced 2025-06-10 01:31:58 +08:00

https://github.com/debarshiray/toolbox/ was planning to vendor libpod which I disagreed with. Let's document the advantages/disadvantages as they exist today. Signed-off-by: Colin Walters <walters@verbum.org>
44 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown
44 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown
# How to use libpod for custom/derivative projects
|
|
|
|
libpod today is a Golang library and a CLI. The choice of interface you make has advantages and disadvantages.
|
|
|
|
Running as a subprocess
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
Advantages:
|
|
|
|
- Many commands output JSON
|
|
- Works with languages other than Golang
|
|
- Easy to get started
|
|
|
|
Disadvantages:
|
|
|
|
- Error handling is harder
|
|
- May be slower
|
|
- Can't hook into or control low-level things like how images are pulled
|
|
|
|
Vendoring into a Go project
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
Advantages:
|
|
|
|
- Significant power and control
|
|
|
|
Disadvantages:
|
|
|
|
- You are now on the hook for container runtime security updates (partially, `runc`/`crun` are separate)
|
|
- Binary size
|
|
- Potential skew between multiple libpod versions operating on the same storage can cause problems
|
|
|
|
Varlink
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
Some code exists for this; splits the difference. Future uncertain.
|
|
|
|
Making the choice
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
A good question to ask first is: Do you want users to be able to use `podman` to manipulate the containers created by your project?
|
|
If so, that makes it more likely that you want to run `podman` as a subprocess. If you want a separate image store and a fundamentally
|
|
different experience; if what you're doing with containers is quite different from those created by the `podman` CLI,
|
|
that may drive you towards vendoring. |