Docker non-root is some kind of sad twisted joke. The person that jumps through pages of hoops to get that mess working and the person that reaches for Docker in the first place are not the same person. When they say they recommend Ubuntu only, they aren't fucking around. I tried last year on Debian. Never again. I nuked it all and started over with regular root Docker and restored whatever was left of my sanity.

Docker compose is also a bewildering mess of conflicting versions and baffling decisions. With incredibly poor documentation. Try to figure out network_mode without spending hours doing trial-and-error github issues stackoverflow head pounding.

I think the UX is fine if you ignore Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml. But those files are rather atrocious. The Faustian bargain of Docker is you fetch images from rather dubious sources and of dubious origin, run them with a root daemon, and let Docker molest your iptables. In return, you get the illusion of having accomplished some form of meaningful isolation. No security whatsoever. But hey, I get to run two versions of node on one Linux and pretend I didn't just sweep all these serious issues under my, now, rather large bed.