January 10, 2026
VM Roommates, Hold the Kubernetes
Show HN: Hosting 100 Linux dev environments on one VM using LXC
Dev rooms on one box: fans cheer savings, pros demand answers
TLDR: Containarium packs many developer environments into one cloud machine to cut costs and simplify setup. The community is split: some say it’s a clean, practical win, while others challenge it on “why not Proxmox/Incus” and security questions about running Docker safely inside unprivileged containers.
Meet Containarium: one cloud computer hosting dozens of isolated dev “rooms,” with the banner No Kubernetes, no fuss. Hacker News showed up with cheering, memes, and tough love. The Containarium pitch: fast setup, strong isolation, big savings. The crowd’s mood? Split between “finally, simple” and “already solved.”
Veterans chimed in fast. Weryj flexed: “I did the exact same thing… through the Proxmox API,” while k_bx asked the killer question: what’s new versus Incus or Proxmox, the old, battle‑tested favorites. Translation: some see Containarium as refreshing minimalism; others call it a remix with good marketing.
Then came the security grilling. BobbyTables2 poked the hottest bear: can you run Docker inside an unprivileged container without breaking the walls? If developers can spin up Docker, what keeps them from peeking at the host? Cue talk of “user namespaces,” a fancy way of saying “extra locks on the doors.”
Comedy hour: readers dubbed it “VM roommates,” “one box, many tenants,” and joked that “No Kubernetes” is the new wellness mantra. Meanwhile, the creator hsin003 stayed cool, inviting feedback and clarifying the “SSH jump host” gatekeeper. Verdict: intriguing idea with budget appeal, but the Linux dad fight continues
Key Points
- •Containarium hosts many isolated Linux development environments on a single cloud VM using unprivileged LXC system containers.
- •Access is provided via an SSH jump host and ProxyJump, with each user getting their own persistent container backed by ZFS storage.
- •Management uses a single Go CLI and gRPC-based control plane, with infrastructure provisioned via Terraform.
- •The platform claims up to 90% infrastructure cost savings compared to one VM per developer, with fast provisioning and strong isolation.
- •Containarium is early-stage open source (Apache 2.0), optimized for Linux hosts and cloud VMs, and is distinct from Kubernetes, Docker app containers, Proxmox, and GitHub Codespaces.