Container-optimized Linux distributions have been around for a while but the concept is not widely understood and even less widely adopted. Additionally, there are a plethora of options in this space that fragment and obscure the shared benefits that span the category. Ultimately, container optimized Linux distros tend to provide some real quality of life, security, and/or efficiency advantages for those operating Kubernetes clusters.

In this talk, you will learn the differences between general purpose Linux distros and specialized distributions and further dive into Linux distributions specifically optimized for hosting container workloads. Attention will be paid to why the concept of a special, optimized Linux distribution makes particularly good sense for the basis of Kubernetes nodes. Additionally, a cohort of open source container optimized Linux distros will be examined (including Talos, Flatcar, and Bottlerocket) with dives into the components of each distro, how they are similar, and different from one another and what primary use cases they address. Finally, the presentation will conclude with the scenarios where using a container optimized Linux distro doesn’t make sense.