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Guix supports exporting to Docker containers. A guix.scm file then becomes a reproducible alternative to a Dockerfile.

However, Guix has its own container implementation. And this is significantly lighter than Docker (instead of layers, links to /gnu/store) and is root-less. If Guix containers had a runc-compatability layer and better docs/tutorials, it would be hard to go back to Docker/podman.

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I have been using Guix-generated reproducible Docker images for years. I'll never go back to using Docker directly.

Could you please elaborate what you mean by "runc-compatability layer"? And what about the docs requires clarification?

(I wrote the original Docker export backend for "guix pack", so I have an interest in improving this feature where necessary.)

I am referring to a hypothetical dockerless OCI compatability layer built on top of `guix shell --container` or `guix system container`.

I sort of got this idea from runj [0], an attempt to create an OCI compatible runtime for FreeBSD jails.

The main advantage is to use certain OCI-compatible tools (e.g. k8s) with Guix without needing to use Docker.

[0] https://samuel.karp.dev/blog/2021/03/runj-a-new-oci-runtime-...

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