Docker is an open-source container technology for application virtualization and currently runs on multiple Linux distributions, including Red Hat and Ubuntu. What CoreOS is aiming to provide is a purpose-built Linux operating system, optimized for Docker containers.
CoreOS is backed by venture capitalist firms Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital. Alex Polvi, CEO of CoreOS, told eWEEK that so far he has raised a seed round of financing in an amount that has not yet been publicly disclosed. CoreOS has been in alpha since August 2013.