What it is
Docker runs software in containers: isolated packages that hold an app with everything it needs, from libraries to configuration. A container runs the same on your laptop as on a server, so you can start a database, a web app or a whole development stack with one command, and remove it without leaving anything behind.
Docker Compose describes a set of containers that work together, such as an app, its database and a cache, in one compose.yaml file, and starts them all with docker compose up.
Why it’s here
- Clean installs. Try or run services without installing them on the system.
- The same everywhere. What runs in a container here runs the same in production.
- Whole stacks at once. Compose brings up every service a project needs.
On CoreDesktop
CoreDesktop installs Docker and Docker Compose from pacman, enables and starts the Docker service, and adds you to the docker group so you can run docker without sudo. The group takes effect at your next login. The aliases d for docker and ld for lazydocker are set up too.
Ports that Docker containers publish would normally get around the ufw firewall, so CoreDesktop also installs ufw-docker. To let a container’s port through:
sudo ufw-docker allow <container> <port>
audit lists ports containers publish. The AI agents in the AI sandbox can’t reach the Docker socket or your Docker credentials. update keeps Docker current with the rest of the pacman packages.