Confused by Podman, don't know when and how to use it

[tamis-laan]

As a developer Podman confuses me. With docker I know that I can use docker compose and develop my application. Then I could even deploy it using docker to a single machine. If I want to scale up I would move to Kubernetes.

With Podman it sounds like I can use Kubrnetes yaml files but deployments are not supported. This is weird because even with a single machine I would like to scale up a service.

What also bothers me is that I don't have a good way to setup my dev environment with hot reloading. In docker we have --watch, sync, restart and --build allowing for an easy developer workflow.

So I'm just observing the Podman project, sounds cool, would like to switch but never actually do. Maybe someone can enlighten me how to effectively use Podman both for development and production.

[baude]

There are probably a bunch of questions in your post, some of which I'm not clear on what exactly you are asking. But these are called discussions for a reason. I'll take a first pass.

As a developer Podman confuses me. With docker I know that I can use docker compose and develop my application. Then I could even deploy it using docker to a single machine.

You can use docker compose with Podman. Simply install the docker compose binary into your path and then run podman compose (not to be confused with podman-compose, which I will grant you is confusing but is not affiliated directly with Podman engineering)

If I want to scale up I would move to Kubernetes.
This is also true but I would suggest that Podman is more helpful with this.

With Podman it sounds like I can use Kubrnetes yaml files but deployments are not supported. This is weird because even with a single machine I would like to scale up a service.

Write an RFE and justify it. I'm not sure I get why it is needed on a single node but you seem to have a clear vision for it. Share that with us as an RFE.

What also bothers me is that I don't have a good way to setup my dev environment with hot reloading. In docker we have --watch, sync, restart and --build allowing for an easy developer workflow.

Are you talking about compose here?

So I'm just observing the Podman project, sounds cool, would like to switch but never actually do. Maybe someone can enlighten me how to effectively use Podman both for development and production.