Atomic actually solves somewhat different problem as you think.
It uses rpm-ostree[0] as a basis "to bring together a hybrid of image-like upgrade features (reliable replication, atomicity), with package-like flexibility (introspecting trees to find package sets, package layering, partial live updates)".
rpm-ostree itself is a layer above OSTree[1], which describes itself as a "git for operating system binaries" - "OSTree is a tool for managing bootable, immutable, versioned filesystem trees."
Yes, it can run docker images; but so does CoreOS or any normal distribution and they are not based on rpm-ostree at all.
It uses rpm-ostree[0] as a basis "to bring together a hybrid of image-like upgrade features (reliable replication, atomicity), with package-like flexibility (introspecting trees to find package sets, package layering, partial live updates)".
rpm-ostree itself is a layer above OSTree[1], which describes itself as a "git for operating system binaries" - "OSTree is a tool for managing bootable, immutable, versioned filesystem trees."
Yes, it can run docker images; but so does CoreOS or any normal distribution and they are not based on rpm-ostree at all.
[0] https://github.com/projectatomic/rpm-ostree [1]https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/OSTree