Wolfi FAQs

What is Wolfi and how does it compare to Alpine? #

Wolfi is our Linux undistro designed from the ground up to support newer computing paradigms such as containers. Although Wolfi has a few similar design principles as Alpine (such as using apk), it is a different distribution that is focused on supply chain security. Unlike Alpine, Wolfi does not currently build its own Linux kernel, instead relying on the host environment (e.g. a container runtime) to provide one.

Is Wolfi free to use? #

Yes, Wolfi is free and will always be.

Can I mix packages from Alpine repositories into a Wolfi-based image? #

No, it’s not possible to mix Alpine apks with Wolfi apks. If your image requires dependencies that are currently only available for Alpine, you might consider opening a new issue in the wolfi-os repository to suggest the new package addition, or use melange to build a custom apk for your image.

Can I use Wolfi on the Desktop? #

No. Wolfi is an un-distro, or distroless base to be used within the container / OCI ecosystem. Desktop distributions require additional software that is out of scope for Wolfi’s roadmap.

Who maintains Wolfi? #

Wolfi was created and is currently maintained by Chainguard.

What are the plans for long-term Wolfi governance? #

We intend for Wolfi to be a community-driven project, which means over time it will have multi-vendor governance and maintainers. For now we’re focused on building the project and community, and will revisit this in several months when a community has formed.

Where can I get security feeds for Wolfi? #

See SECURITY.md for information about reporting security incidents concerning and consuming security data about Wolfi.