Install docker with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository

Commands and aliases

• docker

Project history

Docker's documentation defines Docker as an open platform for developing, shipping, and running applications, using containers as lightweight isolated environments. The docker/cli repository is the home of the Docker CLI, the command-line client that talks to the Docker daemon over the Docker API.

Docker's architecture joined a local client, a daemon, images, containers, registries, and distribution workflows into one approachable developer interface. Over time, major parts of the ecosystem were split or formalized into related projects such as Docker Distribution, containerd, runc, BuildKit, Compose, and Docker Desktop.

Adoption history

Docker spread because it made containerized development and CI/CD reproducible with ordinary commands such as docker build, run, pull, push, and compose-oriented workflows. Docker Hub provided the default public registry, and package managers made the CLI easy to install even on systems where the daemon or Desktop app came from a separate package.

The tool's adoption also reshaped packaging expectations. Application projects began shipping Dockerfiles, official images, compose files, and registry tags as part of their release surface. For many developers, installing docker became the practical entry point for running databases, language runtimes, build services, and whole application stacks locally.

How it is used

The docker command is the primary way many users interact with Docker. The client sends commands such as docker run to dockerd, which builds, runs, and distributes containers. Users pull and push images through registries, build images from Dockerfiles, inspect containers and images, manage networks and volumes, and configure CLI behavior in ~/.docker/config.json or through DOCKER_CONFIG.

Why package nerds care

For package nerds, docker is significant because it moved a large amount of software distribution from host-native packages to OCI-style images and registries. It also became a dependency of development workflows: a package manager entry for docker often means access to thousands of image-packaged tools rather than only one executable.

The CLI package is also interesting because it is only one face of Docker. On macOS, the standalone CLI, Docker Desktop, credential helpers, Compose, Buildx, and the daemon are related but not always delivered by the same package. That split makes docker a useful case study in how package managers model large developer platforms.

Timeline

• 2013: Solomon Hykes first publicly demoed Docker at PyCon.
• Docker platform era: The official architecture centers on a docker client, dockerd daemon, Docker API, images, containers, and registries.
• CLI repository era: Docker CLI development lives in the docker/cli repository as the home of the command-line client.
• 2023: Docker v23 made BuildKit the default builder for Linux images, with the legacy builder deprecated in Docker documentation.
• 2026: Docker documentation still treats docker as the primary CLI for container lifecycle and registry workflows.

Related projects

• Related projects include Docker Engine, Moby, containerd, runc, Docker Distribution, Docker Hub, Docker Desktop, Docker Compose, BuildKit, Buildx, and Docker credential helpers.

Sources

• https://docs.docker.com/get-started/docker-overview/
• https://docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/
• https://github.com/docker/cli
• https://www.docker.com/blog/docker-nine-years-young/
• https://docs.docker.com/engine/deprecated/#legacy-builder-for-linux-images