Distrobox
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 3 container tools
Runs other Linux distributions in containers that integrate with the host for GUI apps, audio and video, keeping the main system clean. Critics say it loses sandboxing.
Runs other Linux distributions in containers that integrate with the host for GUI apps, audio and video, keeping the main system clean. Critics say it loses sandboxing.
45 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 40
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 89%
Recommended in 12 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 40 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 12 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Keeps experiments off the main system
“It's great when I run random scripts from the web that I don't even know how to uninstall and never worry about gunking up the main system.”
Comment from 18 Jun 2026 in “SteamOS Linux 3.8 released as stable” “Distrobox exists for that very reason. No need to ruin your main OS just to run one app.”
Comment from 6 May 2026 in “Fedora is now the default Linux recommendation, and Ubuntu did this to itself” “Distrobox prevents OS updates from clobbering my environment.”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “SteamOS 3.9.0 Preview” Runs many distributions in containers
“if you need a Debian or Fedora base you do `distrobox create` and you can apt-install in a transparent podman container”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “Measuring Input Latency on Linux: X11 vs. Wayland, VRR, and DXVK” “With distrobox you can run many distributions inside your own within a clean and isolated environment.”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Is Linux Safe to Daily drive in 2026?” “you can just jump into a Debian Distrobox for development”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Steam Machine” GUI, audio and video just work
“use distrobox, which is a nice shell script wrapper that helps you set things up so graphical desktop apps just work”
Comment from 31 Dec 2025 in “Win32 is the stable Linux ABI” “This runs containers in userspace and tries to integrate them into your system as much as possible.”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “OpenSUSE Kalpa” “It handles all the integration into the host system, so video, audio etc. just work.”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “Sovereign Tech Agency invests €500k in Flatpak” Good for development without dual booting
“You can use Distrobox to do any software dev without dual booting.”
Comment from 22 Jun 2026 in “Steam Machine” “Have you tried distrobox/toolbox instead of having to spin up VMs?”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Ditching Vagrant: VMs with KVM and Virsh on Debian” “For development work you could try using toolbx or distrobox.”
Comment from 18 Jun 2026 in “SteamOS Linux 3.8 released as stable” - Comment from 6 Dec 2025 in “Aurora: The Linux-based ultimate workstation”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Weak sandboxing and isolation
“helps with GUI apps and mounting the home directory but loses sandboxing”
Comment from 20 May 2026 in “Gemini CLI will stop working from June 18, 2026” “they didn't think about isolation when designing it”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “OpenSUSE Kalpa” “Good organizational tool, bad sandbox.”
Comment from 18 Jun 2026 in “SteamOS Linux 3.8 released as stable”
Other container tools people recommend
The two most recommended other container tools, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 3 container tools, rankedWhat people said
40 of the 53 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“does exactly the same thing but isn't slop”
“nothing as simple as Distrobox and rootless Podman to set up isolated non-root environments”
“Distrobox prevents OS updates from clobbering my environment.”
“It handles all the integration into the host system, so video, audio etc. just work.”
“but it works in distrobox, which is using containers”
“Distrobox is also good option.”
“if you need a Debian or Fedora base you do `distrobox create` and you can apt-install in a transparent podman container”
“The recommended way is to create toolbox/distrobox which uses containers to isolate stuff.”
“all stitched together by distrobox works well.”
“Have you tried distrobox/toolbox instead of having to spin up VMs?”
“You can use Distrobox to do any software dev without dual booting.”
“For development work you could try using toolbx or distrobox.”
“I like that as a feature because I can use it like a normal root system”
“Good organizational tool, bad sandbox.”
“It's great when I run random scripts from the web that I don't even know how to uninstall and never worry about gunking up the main system.”
“helps with GUI apps and mounting the home directory but loses sandboxing”
“Zero issues, far from being unusable.”
“Distrobox is great for cli apps and stuff not touching mesa/drivers.”
“Distrobox exists for that very reason. No need to ruin your main OS just to run one app.”
“It really takes some experience to shift your mindset, but it was worth it for me.”
“they didn't think about isolation when designing it”
“distrobox assemble helps a bit though.”
“This runs containers in userspace and tries to integrate them into your system as much as possible.”
“The secret is that all your power is within a distrobox container.”
“Distrobox functions better than Toolbox”
“With distrobox you can run many distributions inside your own within a clean and isolated environment.”
“throw random programs (flatpaks, snaps, appimages, distroboxes and whatnot helps a ton)”
“I've loved the project since my time on Linux and wanted the same in Mac land.”
“pre-built with tools for development like distrobox”
“they have good integration with the base OS, but I’ve had to reach for distrobox a lot less than I expected”
“you can similarly sandbox a lot of CLI tools with toolbx or distrobox”
“distrobox containers sound more approachable”
“Learn how to use https://distrobox.it/”
“use distrobox, which is a nice shell script wrapper that helps you set things up so graphical desktop apps just work”
“distrobox and other tools this is quite easy”
“everything developer i do in separate distrobox”
“On uBlue distros, Distrobox makes this easy.”
“If you want desktop Integration, try distrobox.”
“you can just jump into a Debian Distrobox for development”
“tools such as flatpak, toolbox and distrobox have made it super easy now”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.