Using Podman with BuildKit, the better Docker image builder
BuildKit is a new and improved tool for building Docker images: it’s faster, has critical features missing from traditional Dockerfile
s like build secrets, plus additionally useful features like cache mounting.
So if you’re building Docker images, using BuildKit is in general a good idea.
And then there’s Podman: Podman is a reimplemented, compatible version of the Docker CLI and API.
It does not however implement all the BuildKit Dockerfile
extensions.
On its own, then, Podman isn’t as good as Docker at building images.
There is another option, however: BuildKit has its own build tool, which is distinct from the traditional docker build
, and this build tool can work with Podman.
Let’s see where Podman currently is as far as BuildKit features, and