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Top 8 Shell Sandbox Projects
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Project mention: How to run GUI applications directly in containers | news.ycombinator.com | 2025-02-27
Curious that there's no comparison to https://github.com/mviereck/x11docker , which I would describe as the incumbent in this space.
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junest
The lightweight Arch Linux based distro that runs, without root privileges, on top of any other Linux distro.
Project mention: The chroot Technique – a Swiss army multitool for Linux systems | news.ycombinator.com | 2025-04-09I can highly recommend: https://github.com/fsquillace/junest
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Project mention: Fedora Linux devs discuss dropping 32-bit packages – bad news for Steam gamers | news.ycombinator.com | 2025-06-24
Another solution is Conty[0] which is a download-and-run containerised Steam based on Arch; I use it to run games on Slackware without multilibs, and it's worked flawlessly so far.
However, it seems Arch are also dropping multilibs as a dependency of Wine, and moving to WoW64[1], with "reduced performance for 32-bit applications that use OpenGL directly".
What this implies for Steam on Arch (and hence for Conty) I'm not sure, though according to [2], as of May some Proton versions have a PROTON_USE_WOW64 env var now, so maybe multilibs can be avoided natively anyhow.
0: https://github.com/Kron4ek/Conty
1: https://archlinux.org/news/transition-to-the-new-wow64-wine-...
2: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/6889
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qubes-app-split-browser
Tor Browser (or Firefox) in a Qubes OS disposable, with persistent bookmarks and login credentials
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BrowserBox
Install and run Firefox on Debian unattended in a virtual machine or on a computer. (by Torxgewinde)
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lxdbox
This tool helps you to isolate your workspaces inside LXD containers (Guest OS), share X.org, Pulseaudio, and Web Cameras from the host OS to your Guest OS.
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InfluxDB
InfluxDB – Built for High-Performance Time Series Workloads. InfluxDB 3 OSS is now GA. Transform, enrich, and act on time series data directly in the database. Automate critical tasks and eliminate the need to move data externally. Download now.
NOTE:
The open source projects on this list are ordered by number of github stars.
The number of mentions indicates repo mentiontions in the last 12 Months or
since we started tracking (Dec 2020).
Shell Sandbox discussion
Shell Sandbox related posts
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The chroot Technique – a Swiss army multitool for Linux systems
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How I Work Fully Remote through SSH without Sudo Rights
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How to Escape a Container
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AppImage + Arch Linux/AUR packages = ArchImage!
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ArchImage: my (experimental) side-project to convert Arch Linux programs to AppImages that really work on any distro, old or young... powered by Junest
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Pacman Virtual Environment v0.1
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A script to export the Arch Linux's magics (via JuNest) to the host's menu: "junest-export" (strongly inspired by distrobox-export)
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A note from our sponsor - Stream
getstream.io | 11 Jul 2025
Index
What are some of the best open-source Sandbox projects in Shell? This list will help you:
| # | Project | Stars |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | x11docker | 5,882 |
| 2 | junest | 2,169 |
| 3 | Conty | 906 |
| 4 | eatmynetwork | 50 |
| 5 | qubes-app-split-browser | 45 |
| 6 | BrowserBox | 28 |
| 7 | lxdbox | 5 |
| 8 | gl-yocto-sandbox-software | 0 |
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