OSGi: What are the differences between Apache Felix and Apache Karaf?

Question

Apache Karaf is a sub project of Apache Felix. It is defined as \"a lightweight OSGi container\".

I don\'t understand when should I use the heavyweight and when to u

Answer 1

Currently, there are three popular open source OSGi containers:

  - Equinox. It is the modular Java runtime at the heart of the Eclipse IDE,
  - Knopflerfish, Is an open source implementation of the OSGi R3 and OSGi R4 specifications. 
  - Apache Felix. Is the open source OSGi container from the Apache Software Foundation.

http://www.javaworld.com/article/2077837/java-se/java-se-hello-osgi-part-1-bundles-for-beginners.html

The Apache project maintains a general-purpose OSGi container called Felix. Here is used as ServiceMix and

The main difference between the ServiceMix and Karaf is that ServiceMix bundles a bunch of other integration components — ActiveMQ message broker, the Camel routing engine, and some other things

According: http://kevinboone.net/osgitest.html