Docker containers differ fundamentally from traditional Linux systems in process management. While Linux systems have a complete init system (PID 1) managing all processes, Docker containers run with a single main process that must handle all process management duties.

Direct Background Process:

CMD ["./daemon", "&"]

Init System:

CMD ["tini", "--", "./daemon"]

Process Supervisor:

CMD ["supervisor", "./daemon"]

• Choose appropriate process management strategy
• Implement proper signal handling (SIGTERM, SIGINT)
• Enable logging and monitoring
• Handle startup dependencies Design for proper container shutdown

in short:

Simple daemons → lightweight init system

Complex daemons → process supervisor

Critical services → full monitoring and health checks