Kubernetes drove the transition from VMs to Containers, but Linux distro tooling (package manager & package archives) remained focussed on a full blown OS. Distros didn't adapt to serve the needs of a containerised SDLC.

Containers are meant to run single-processes in isolation, but package management is built for VMs, leading to bloated containers that increase attack surface for applications and lead to patching overhead for developers.

Minimal containers are becoming the standard for modern application development.

This talk explores an approach for creating a Debian-inspired distro with a container-first design.

Debian container bloat stems from:
1. Essential packages needed for VMs but not containers - like bash, libc6
2. APT package manager footprint - installs 59 packages
3. Maintainer script dependencies in Debian packages - scripts can require runtimes like perl, python etc

Proposing a new approach:
1. Portable APT replacement implemented in Go
2. Reimplementing maintainer scripts with minimal dependencies
3. Bootstrapping a distro so that only required packages can be installed, no "essentials"