I really like the way how kubernetes was integrated in Docker For Mac. Is there an similar way to setup kubernetes locally on a linux desktop for development/testing purpose? Or is minikube still the way to go?
Minikube is local, single-node cluster build with Kubernetes stack. It works on MacOS, Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD. FreeBSD is not based on a virtual machine, but it uses native FreeBSD jails for isolation.
As far as I know, there is no alternative solution for easy development of a single-node Kubernetes cluster with minimal technical knowledge. You only have to download binary minikube and start the installation process.
minikube start
Finally, when all files are downloaded, installed and configured, Kubernetes configuration file
$HOME/.kube/configis also ready for use with kubectl tool.
If you have kubectl downloaded, you are ready to operate on freshly installed local Kubernetes single-node cluster.
Minikube is currently your best bet: https://www.docker.com/kubernetes
We have added Kubernetes support in both Docker Desktop for Mac and Windows and in Docker Enterprise Edition (EE).
Emphasis mine
The local-up cluster (hack/local-up-cluster.sh) is an option for simple development/testing.