Level 80
@geodro-289809 I’ve been using Docker for years now. How does Podman compare? What does it do differently to Docker?
1 like
Mar 30, 2026
4
Level 1
Lerd – open source Herd alternative for Linux (macOS coming soon)
I've been working on a side project for a while now and thought this community would appreciate it.
It's called lerd and it's a Podman-native PHP development environment for Linux, with macOS support coming very soon. The idea came from the frustration of not having something like Herd on Linux. I wanted automatic .test domains, per-project PHP and Node version isolation, one-command TLS, all without touching the system PHP or depending on Docker.
It bundles Nginx, PHP-FPM and optional services like MySQL, Redis, PostgreSQL, Meilisearch, Minio, Mailpit, Stripe Mock and Reverb as rootless Podman containers. There's also a built-in web UI you can install as a PWA, where you can manage sites, switch PHP and Node versions, toggle services, and watch live logs per project.
It's Laravel-first but supports Symfony, WordPress and any framework through YAML definitions. The project has been growing organically, already has external contributors and pull requests coming in without me reaching out to anyone, which has been encouraging.
You can check it out at github.com/geodro/lerd and the docs are at geodro.github.io/lerd . Would love to hear feedback from the community, especially from anyone running Laravel on Linux.
Level 1
Great question! Podman is almost a drop-in replacement for Docker at the CLI level, so if you know Docker you already know Podman.
The two big differences are that Podman has no daemon running in the background and it's rootless by default, meaning containers run as your own user with no sudo involved. That's actually what makes lerd possible since everything runs as a regular user through systemd on Linux and launchd on macOS.
For day to day use you won't notice much difference, it just works without the overhead of a background service.
Level 1
The rootless Podman approach is a genuinely smart choice for this — no daemon overhead, no sudo headaches, and containers running as your own user makes the whole thing feel a lot cleaner than Docker-based setups. Automatic .test domains and per-project PHP version switching is exactly what's been missing for Linux Laravel devs. Been watching this project and the macOS support landing soon makes it worth keeping an eye on.
Level 4
Nice!
Ler looks native like Herd? I mean, a good visual integration with OS, proper icon o menu, etc? Also, It will be available at Apple Store or has some dmg to download?
TY
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