This post will be the first in a series covering Flatcar Container Linux, covering everything you need to configure and deploy the OS at the edge. Check back each Friday for future installments.

I have been researching the optimized infrastructure stack to run Kubernetes at the edge. While K3s from Rancher comes across as the best Kubernetes distribution for the edge, the quest for an edge-optimized operating system (OS) continues.

During the holidays, I got a chance to explore Flatcar Container Linux, an OS that started as a fork from CoreOS Container Linux when Red Hat purchased CoreOS.

Since its introduction in 2014, I have been a fan of the projects from CoreOS, Inc. Container Linux, rkt, etcd, Fleet, and Flannel were some of the products from the CoreOS staple. While etcd became the foundation of Kubernetes and a part of CNCF, other projects ceased to exist after Red Hat acquired CoreOS.

Last year, Red Hat announced the company would no longer develop or support Container Linux. Though Fedora CoreOS is positioned as an alternative, it’s not a drop-in replacement to CoreOS Container Linux.

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