Dreaming of container focused macOS on ARM workstation

This post is about me dreaming of setting up a container focused development workstation on macOS ARM.

Ideally, this setup will allow for me NOT(!) having to retrain my "muscle memory" for desktop shortcuts (switching "workspaces", launching and moving around apps, …)

Think: like Project Bluefin on (ARM) Linux.

Building Blocks:

• https://containerd.io/
• https://lima-vm.io/
• https://github.com/abiosoft/colima
• https://distrobox.it/
• https://containers.dev/
• https://code.visualstudio.com/
• Visual Studio Code Dev Containers extension

Tips

Running distrobox in lima: [Distrobox] MacOS host support #36

limactl start
lima sudo apt install distrobox
lima distrobox create
lima distrobox enter ...

Using VSCode SSH Remote with Lima-VM #1890

There is now a ssh.config generated for each instance, so can use that file instead of show-ssh.

echo "Include ${LIMA_HOME:-$HOME/.lima}/default/ssh.config" >> ~/.ssh/config

Then you should be able to connect to "lima-default" (or any other instance), without parameters.

ssh lima-default

Colima VS Code Devcontainers

# /Users/matthias/.lima/_config/override.yaml
mountType: 9p
mounts:
  - location: "/Users/matthias"
    writable: true
    9p:
      securityModel: mapped-xattr
      cache: mmap
  - location: "~"
    writable: true
    9p:
      securityModel: mapped-xattr
      cache: mmap
  - location: /tmp/colima
    writable: true
    9p:
      securityModel: mapped-xattr
      cache: mmap


colima start --cpu 4 --memory 16 --mount-type 9p

sudo brew services start colima

sudo ln -sf $HOME/.colima/default/docker.sock /var/run/docker.sock

Resources

Semi-structured list of useful resources for further reading.

Also some apps that I use, and recommend (I guess 🤔).

• How to turn your macOS into a Linux-like Desktop

• Maccy, a clipboard manager for macOS which does one job - keep your copy history at hand. Period. Lightweight. Open source. No fluff.

• Simple OSS shortcut manager for macOS

• Amethyst, a tiling window manager for macOS, along the lines of xmonad.

• AWESOME YouTube video by Tech Craft: Boost your MacOS PRODUCTIVITY with Amethyst | Tiling Window Manager

• Zap, a spotlight-inspired macOS launcher that supercharges navigation across apps, monitors, and workspaces.

• How to fix chown ‘permission denied’ issue when using colima on Mac OS X?

• Marte, a dual-pane (think: Norton Commander), keyboard-friendly fast and extensible file manager for macOS

• Nerd Fonts: brew tap homebrew/cask-fonts && brew install --cask font-fira-code-nerd-font

• VS Code (Colors/ Theme & Fonts)

{
    "workbench.colorTheme": "Dracula",
    "editor.fontFamily": "FiraCode Nerd Font",
    "editor.fontLigatures": true
}