Karton
Run Linux programs on macOS, a different Linux distro, or a different architecture.
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Application type
Alerts
- Discontinued
Platforms
- Mac
- Linux
The latest version (1.0.0) was released in March 2018.
Features
- Compatibility Layer
Tags
Karton News & Activities
Recent activities
- APPLESOFT98 updated Karton
justarandom added Karton as alternative to MacMulator- babsors liked Karton
Karton information
Developed by
Marco BarisioneLicensing
Open Source and Free product.Written in
Alternatives
26 alternatives listedSupported Languages
- English
AlternativeTo Category
OS & UtilitiesGitHub repository
- 195 Stars
- 13 Forks
- 9 Open Issues
- Updated
Featured in Lists
The must haves for anyone using Linux!
What is Karton?
Karton is a tool which can transparently run Linux programs:
- 🐧 on a different Linux distribution,
- 🍎 on macOS,
- 💻 on a different architecture (ARMv7 and ARMv8, on a x86-64 host).
To do this, you just need to tell Karton which distro 🐧 to use, which packages 📦 to install, and which directories 📂 to make accessible. This is called an image.
Features
Fast . Launching a program in an image takes fractions of a second.
No need to start/stop a virtual machine or container, it’s done transparently and quickly.
Multiple terminals access the same running image. You can start a program in one terminal and attach to it with gdb from another.
Automatic handling of shared directories and files. Your files are accessible both on your system and to programs running in an image.
Except for directories you decide to share, the file system is transient. You can reset your changes to the system instantly.
Can run Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora and CentOS images.
Based on 
Docker containers.