9 ms·

WebVM is a server-less virtual Linux environment running client-side

632 points by sebg 2y ago

fragmede 2y ago
Networking provided by Tailscale. Clever! Works around some potential issues.
- apignotti 2y ago
  Using Tailscale is the most effective solution for in-browser networking, we wrote at length about the topic some time ago: https://labs.leaningtech.com/blog/webvm-virtual-machine-with-networking-via-tailscale https://labs.leaningtech.com/blog/webvm-virtual-machine-with...
  - saurik 2y ago
    I am really confused by one part of your blog post: it says that you had to embed Lwip as applications don't send/receive IP packets... but you also describe this as x86 virtualization running specifically-Linux, and Linux absolutely has its own TCP stack, so I don't understand what Lwip is actually accomplishing here... I would have thought you'd essentially be implemented as a paravirtualized network adapter, but then the article mentions system calls? I guess I just fundamentally don't understand at what level of the stack you have this implemented... did you replace the Linux kernel and reimplement its entire system call layer?
    - ncruces 2y ago
      Yes: https://labs.leaningtech.com/cheerpx#cheerpx-versus-v86jslinux https://labs.leaningtech.com/cheerpx#cheerpx-versus-v86jslin... Also, a little below: CheerpX currently focuses on user mode (ring 3), and does not fully emulate the kernel (ring 0). We do, however, implement a subset of the Linux system call interface, which is enough to run most applications.
      - ec109685 2y ago
        Have you looked at gvisor to help implement some of the outstanding system calls given it’s a kernel written in go?
        saagarjha 2y ago
        gVisor probably supports less than they do.
  - cchance 2y ago
    Can we use custom derp/headscale setups? Would be interesting even for use internally then, hell rolling custom versions with preloaded software could also be pretty cool all connected to a corporate headscale/derp.
    - bradfitz 2y ago
      Per their docs, yes: https://github.com/leaningtech/webvm/blob/main/docs/Tailscale.md#log-in-to-a-self-hosted-tailscale-network-headscale https://github.com/leaningtech/webvm/blob/main/docs/Tailscal...
  - tech234a 2y ago
    Could be cool to see an implementation using Chrome's experimental Direct Sockets API [0]. The API requires using a form of new web packaging known as Isolated Web Apps which have a strict CSP [1] though, so it might not be possible to use it for this since I'd assume it's dynamically executing a lot of code. [0]: https://github.com/WICG/direct-sockets/blob/main/docs/explainer.md https://github.com/WICG/direct-sockets/blob/main/docs/explai... [1]: https://github.com/WICG/isolated-web-apps/blob/main/README.md https://github.com/WICG/isolated-web-apps/blob/main/README.m...
matt3210 2y ago
root password?
- fragmede 2y ago
  "password", per https://github.com/leaningtech/webvm/blob/main/dockerfiles/debian_large#L18 https://github.com/leaningtech/webvm/blob/main/dockerfiles/d...
talldayo 2y ago
[flagged]
- fragmede 2y ago
  One can still appreciate how well the violinist on the Titanic played while listening from a life-boat (if lucky enough to have been on one).
- nxobject 2y ago
  It’s a cool hack - what can I say. Surprised at how it instantly loads to a usable shell, too, if there’s a lesson to be learned there. Is there a freeze-dried memory image being used?
  - apignotti 2y ago
    Absolutely not. The app starts at the entry point and execute instructions as normal. Both the main executable and libraries are all loaded on demand from a disk image delivered chunk-by-chunk over HTTP. The disk backend is based Clouflare workers with multiple levels of caching to maximize perf.
- darby_nine 2y ago
  Given the absolute dysfunction on how browser standards are adopted this is expected behavior. Huge security risk, huge implementation cost, very low competition, and people hate electron apps.
- satvikpendem 2y ago
  Something being cool technically doesn't mean it's wise philosophically.
alex14fr 2y ago
This feels way slower than https://bellard.org/jslinux/ https://bellard.org/jslinux/
- jedisct1 2y ago
  Hard to compete with Bellard :)
- nullifidian 2y ago
  I tried compiling mandelbrot.c (single threaded one) from the benchmarks game and execution on jslinux took 12 seconds, while webvm completed it in 1.2 sec. The host takes 0.03 sec with the same gcc flags.
  - alex14fr 2y ago
    It may be faster for this particular benchmark, yet it feels slow and sluggish for interactive use.
apignotti 2y ago
Hi, Lead Dev of WebVM and CTO of Leaning Technologies here. Happy to answer any questions you might have... potentially in a few hours, it's quite late here :-) Even better, consider joining our Discord: https://discord.gg/yTNZgySKGa https://discord.gg/yTNZgySKGa
- debarshri 2y ago
  Hello there, I havent tried webvm yet but looks similar to v86. There were lot of network related challenges working with v86, for eg. You cant do curl, DNS resolution does not work out of the box. How did you address these challenges in webvm. I think it is very interesting and exciting what you guys are building.
  - apignotti 2y ago
    We support networking via Tailscale, we wrote a detailed blog post some time ago: https://labs.leaningtech.com/blog/webvm-virtual-machine-with-networking-via-tailscale https://labs.leaningtech.com/blog/webvm-virtual-machine-with...
- theanonymousone 2y ago
  Hi and thanks for the effort. Is there a roadmap for supporting GUI applications?
  - apignotti 2y ago
    Yes, we are working on it right now. The immediate priority is booting a complete desktop environment. Next steps will include 3D graphics.
    - mcnesium 2y ago
      What are some use cases for this?
      - apignotti 2y ago
smusamashah 2y ago
There are a few others VMs https://copy.sh/v86/ https://copy.sh/v86/ https://bellard.org/jslinux/ https://bellard.org/jslinux/ https://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/ https://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/ (https://github.com/jsdf/pce https://github.com/jsdf/pce) https://www.pcjs.org/ https://www.pcjs.org/ (lots of hardware and OSes) (https://github.com/jeffpar/pcjs https://github.com/jeffpar/pcjs) Mac OS https://infinitemac.org/ https://infinitemac.org/ (https://blog.persistent.info/2023/03/infinitemac-dot-org.html https://blog.persistent.info/2023/03/infinitemac-dot-org.htm...) https://jamesfriend.com.au/projects/basiliskii/BasiliskII-worker.html https://jamesfriend.com.au/projects/basiliskii/BasiliskII-wo... https://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/pce-js-apps/ https://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/pce-js-apps/
- baudaux 2y ago
  https://exaequos.com https://exaequos.com
- zamadatix 2y ago
  These are full system emulators, this is more a compatibility layer ("Linux syscall emulator") for emulated userland binaries. I.e. a bit higher level and a bit more usable/flexible as a result.
  - Recursing 2y ago
    I think it's also much faster in practice
    - 3abiton 2y ago
      I'm curious, but what's the catch?
      - creshal 2y ago
        The obvious one is that it is userland-only, you don't get to play around with custom kernels being emulated on the hardware layer.
      - 2y ago
tamimio 2y ago
What a practical use case of such thing?
- apignotti 2y ago
  (Same answer as a more deeply nested comment below) The technology is extremely flexibile, off the top of my head: * Education (Linux, Programming, Security, ...) * Live docs for arbitrary languages and binary libraries * Preservation of historical software and games * Virtualization of legacy Windows enterprise apps. * Dev environment for Web IDEs Just a few examples, the list could go on for long
  - tamimio 2y ago
    Very interesting, thanks! and good luck on the project.
  - getpokedagain 2y ago
    installing emacs in my web browser?
- griftrejection 2y ago
  [dead]
- old_hat 2y ago
  This isn't WebVM specifically, but one example using WebContainers we've built is https://demo.graphweaver.com/ https://demo.graphweaver.com/ This runs a NodeJS server and frontend in your browser so you can see what Graphweaver can do without having to install or run anything more than a browser on your computer. The example has an SQLite database joined to a REST API. Graphweaver serves a GraphQL API with the result.
- _moof 2y ago
  Making your senior engineers take off their glasses, sigh, and pinch the bridge of their nose.
  - 2y ago
ptspts 2y ago
It doesn't work in my Chrome on Android. The cursor is blinking, nothing happens. If a browser is not supported, the site should display a specific error message.
- cebert 2y ago
  Works fine for me on Android
jrm4 2y ago
[flagged]
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
danans 2y ago
Can it be made to work offline and keep state locally between reloads?
- apignotti 2y ago
  Working offline is not truly possible since that would require downloading the full 2GB disk image, which is something that is deliberately avoided by the system architecture. State is already locally maintained via IndexedDB, no data is ever sent back or saved on our servers.
  - theragra 2y ago
    For many people that's not an issues, so maybe you need to add it someday.
xyst 2y ago
Looks like it’s broken on mobile
- Zambyte 2y ago
  Works for me in Firefox Focus on Android
- nasretdinov 2y ago
  Worked on stock iOS in Safari! Must've taken them ages to debug...
localfirst 2y ago
can i run a webserver that can talk with the internet and others can call
- liamYC 2y ago
  I suspect you’d have trouble opening ports on the client’s machine. Maybe you could use a dedicated http proxy the client talks to
- koolala 2y ago
  A custom service worker might be able to proxy for you without needing Tail Scale.
- fragmede 2y ago
  Tailscale funnel should work. I'll double-check when I'm back home if someone else hasn't.
sitkack 2y ago
It even emulates fork!
cajesaw4 2y ago
[flagged]
cajesaw4 2y ago
[flagged]
supportengineer 2y ago
$ uptime Error: /proc must be mounted
dangoodmanUT 2y ago
ungodly slow on apple silicon
doctor_eval 2y ago
I first used Slackware Linux off floppies in the mid 90s, yet every time I see linux in the browser I am gobsmacked. I’ve said for a while that a browser is basically its own operating system. Now it can host operating systems!
ladysera 2y ago
Hi, this looks really amazing, will give it a try later thanks
remram 2y ago
Totally unusable on mobile unfortunately (at least Firefox and Chrome on Android). Might be a limitation of how the keyboard works, but every command gets duplicated (at least) when I enter it.
- zoom6628 2y ago
  Using Brave browser on iPhoneXR works nicely.
nyanpasu64 2y ago
Can we port Adobe Flash to WebVM to avoid having to pay for "CheerpX for Flash"?
- unsolvedcypher 2y ago
  Have you tried Ruffle? It's also capable of running Flash in the browser.
- fragmede 2y ago
  Why do you want to scam them out of their hard work?
spankalee 2y ago
Cool, but very often my keystrokes aren't showing up, making this pretty unusable. Also, for the use case of local dev environment for Web IDEs, this doesn't look fast enough. node --version runs fast after the first time, but executing any JavaScript is very, very slow: user@:~$ time node -e "console.log('Hello')" Hello real 0m7.693s user 0m0.012s sys 0m0.000s
jkhanlar 2y ago
bash: man: command not found
novolunt 2y ago
[dead]
jfmc 2y ago
Note that "CheerpX enables you to run existing 32-bit x86 native binaries". For some reason support for wasm64 (in browsers) has been stagnated for years, which is a pity.
- pjmlp 2y ago
  Most WASM, WebGL and WebGPU features take ages in browsers, measured in decades.
  - saagarjha 2y ago
    You do understand that most of these features were conceived of maybe a decade ago, if at all?
Uptrenda 2y ago
Now just needs some kind of hack for networking through a browser extension and this would be so awesome.
- Tajnymag 2y ago
  Networking is already supported through the Tailscale network. Once you login, the vm should be able to connect to the internet through your exit node.
bfung 2y ago
server-less - like the server that runs the browser that the VM runs inside. /sarcasm
jbritton 2y ago
Where are files located, server, client, browser local storage? How do you import a .exe compiled elsewhere, curl, scp? This is a Linux environment, but it can run Windows apps? How does that work?
me551ah 2y ago
Now if only I could install chrome via apt and run it inside of this linux machine.
Animats 2y ago
Love the buzzwords. It's a Linux command line environment running in a browser. Slowly.
- parasti 2y ago
  Have to agree, that description is more confusing than anything. I guess JS code that a web browser executes is considered "serverless" now.
- koreankid227 2y ago
  Lol I was so confused
revskill 2y ago
Sweet, could i run a nodejs http api directly from browser ?
hexo 2y ago
Let me fix the title: "WebVM is a wasm VM running in browser"
dchest 2y ago
Looks like the underlying project is not open source: "WebVM is based on a CheerpX build that we host. We encourage users to deploy their own versions of WebVM, but we don’t currently allow self-hosting of the CheerpX engine itself. This public build of CheerpX is provided as-is and is free to use for technological exploration, testing and non-commercial uses. If you want to build a product on top of CheerpX/WebVM, please get in touch:" https://labs.leaningtech.com/blog/mini-webvm-your-linux-box-from-dockerfile-via-wasm https://labs.leaningtech.com/blog/mini-webvm-your-linux-box-...
- jckahn 2y ago
  That’s a shame. I was excited at first, but my interest in this project is now gone.
  - Zetaphor 2y ago
    Agreed, even the ability to self host the closed source WASM binary would have been acceptable.
marmaduke 2y ago
Can this run NFS or other network filesystems?
languagehacker 2y ago
First thing I tried was `apt-get install emacs` and it hung on downloading. Editor preferences aside, I assume any nonstandard package will have the same problem. Interesting idea, but apart from trivial glue you may not need more than a container or unikernel for anyway, I'm struggling to understand a practical use case.
phibz 2y ago
Seems like having tailscale or at least wireguard would be really useful in this

632 points by sebg 2y ago

fragmede 2y ago

Networking provided by Tailscale. Clever! Works around some potential issues.

apignotti 2y ago
Using Tailscale is the most effective solution for in-browser networking, we wrote at length about the topic some time ago: https://labs.leaningtech.com/blog/webvm-virtual-machine-with-networking-via-tailscale https://labs.leaningtech.com/blog/webvm-virtual-machine-with...
- saurik 2y ago
  I am really confused by one part of your blog post: it says that you had to embed Lwip as applications don't send/receive IP packets... but you also describe this as x86 virtualization running specifically-Linux, and Linux absolutely has its own TCP stack, so I don't understand what Lwip is actually accomplishing here... I would have thought you'd essentially be implemented as a paravirtualized network adapter, but then the article mentions system calls? I guess I just fundamentally don't understand at what level of the stack you have this implemented... did you replace the Linux kernel and reimplement its entire system call layer?
  - ncruces 2y ago
    Yes: https://labs.leaningtech.com/cheerpx#cheerpx-versus-v86jslinux https://labs.leaningtech.com/cheerpx#cheerpx-versus-v86jslin... Also, a little below: CheerpX currently focuses on user mode (ring 3), and does not fully emulate the kernel (ring 0). We do, however, implement a subset of the Linux system call interface, which is enough to run most applications.
    - ec109685 2y ago
      Have you looked at gvisor to help implement some of the outstanding system calls given it’s a kernel written in go?
      - saagarjha 2y ago
        gVisor probably supports less than they do.
- cchance 2y ago
  Can we use custom derp/headscale setups? Would be interesting even for use internally then, hell rolling custom versions with preloaded software could also be pretty cool all connected to a corporate headscale/derp.
  - bradfitz 2y ago
    Per their docs, yes: https://github.com/leaningtech/webvm/blob/main/docs/Tailscale.md#log-in-to-a-self-hosted-tailscale-network-headscale https://github.com/leaningtech/webvm/blob/main/docs/Tailscal...
- tech234a 2y ago
  Could be cool to see an implementation using Chrome's experimental Direct Sockets API [0]. The API requires using a form of new web packaging known as Isolated Web Apps which have a strict CSP [1] though, so it might not be possible to use it for this since I'd assume it's dynamically executing a lot of code. [0]: https://github.com/WICG/direct-sockets/blob/main/docs/explainer.md https://github.com/WICG/direct-sockets/blob/main/docs/explai... [1]: https://github.com/WICG/isolated-web-apps/blob/main/README.md https://github.com/WICG/isolated-web-apps/blob/main/README.m...

matt3210 2y ago

root password?

fragmede 2y ago
"password", per https://github.com/leaningtech/webvm/blob/main/dockerfiles/debian_large#L18 https://github.com/leaningtech/webvm/blob/main/dockerfiles/d...

talldayo 2y ago

[flagged]

fragmede 2y ago
One can still appreciate how well the violinist on the Titanic played while listening from a life-boat (if lucky enough to have been on one).
nxobject 2y ago
It’s a cool hack - what can I say. Surprised at how it instantly loads to a usable shell, too, if there’s a lesson to be learned there. Is there a freeze-dried memory image being used?
- apignotti 2y ago
  Absolutely not. The app starts at the entry point and execute instructions as normal. Both the main executable and libraries are all loaded on demand from a disk image delivered chunk-by-chunk over HTTP. The disk backend is based Clouflare workers with multiple levels of caching to maximize perf.
darby_nine 2y ago
Given the absolute dysfunction on how browser standards are adopted this is expected behavior. Huge security risk, huge implementation cost, very low competition, and people hate electron apps.
satvikpendem 2y ago
Something being cool technically doesn't mean it's wise philosophically.

alex14fr 2y ago

This feels way slower than https://bellard.org/jslinux/ https://bellard.org/jslinux/

jedisct1 2y ago
Hard to compete with Bellard :)
nullifidian 2y ago
I tried compiling mandelbrot.c (single threaded one) from the benchmarks game and execution on jslinux took 12 seconds, while webvm completed it in 1.2 sec. The host takes 0.03 sec with the same gcc flags.
- alex14fr 2y ago
  It may be faster for this particular benchmark, yet it feels slow and sluggish for interactive use.

apignotti 2y ago

Hi, Lead Dev of WebVM and CTO of Leaning Technologies here. Happy to answer any questions you might have... potentially in a few hours, it's quite late here :-) Even better, consider joining our Discord: https://discord.gg/yTNZgySKGa https://discord.gg/yTNZgySKGa

debarshri 2y ago
Hello there, I havent tried webvm yet but looks similar to v86. There were lot of network related challenges working with v86, for eg. You cant do curl, DNS resolution does not work out of the box. How did you address these challenges in webvm. I think it is very interesting and exciting what you guys are building.
- apignotti 2y ago
  We support networking via Tailscale, we wrote a detailed blog post some time ago: https://labs.leaningtech.com/blog/webvm-virtual-machine-with-networking-via-tailscale https://labs.leaningtech.com/blog/webvm-virtual-machine-with...
theanonymousone 2y ago
Hi and thanks for the effort. Is there a roadmap for supporting GUI applications?
- apignotti 2y ago
  Yes, we are working on it right now. The immediate priority is booting a complete desktop environment. Next steps will include 3D graphics.
  - mcnesium 2y ago
    What are some use cases for this?
    - apignotti 2y ago

smusamashah 2y ago

There are a few others VMs https://copy.sh/v86/ https://copy.sh/v86/ https://bellard.org/jslinux/ https://bellard.org/jslinux/ https://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/ https://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/ (https://github.com/jsdf/pce https://github.com/jsdf/pce) https://www.pcjs.org/ https://www.pcjs.org/ (lots of hardware and OSes) (https://github.com/jeffpar/pcjs https://github.com/jeffpar/pcjs) Mac OS https://infinitemac.org/ https://infinitemac.org/ (https://blog.persistent.info/2023/03/infinitemac-dot-org.html https://blog.persistent.info/2023/03/infinitemac-dot-org.htm...) https://jamesfriend.com.au/projects/basiliskii/BasiliskII-worker.html https://jamesfriend.com.au/projects/basiliskii/BasiliskII-wo... https://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/pce-js-apps/ https://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/pce-js-apps/

baudaux 2y ago
https://exaequos.com https://exaequos.com
zamadatix 2y ago
These are full system emulators, this is more a compatibility layer ("Linux syscall emulator") for emulated userland binaries. I.e. a bit higher level and a bit more usable/flexible as a result.
- Recursing 2y ago
  I think it's also much faster in practice
  - 3abiton 2y ago
    I'm curious, but what's the catch?
    - creshal 2y ago
      The obvious one is that it is userland-only, you don't get to play around with custom kernels being emulated on the hardware layer.
    - 2y ago

tamimio 2y ago

What a practical use case of such thing?

apignotti 2y ago
(Same answer as a more deeply nested comment below) The technology is extremely flexibile, off the top of my head: * Education (Linux, Programming, Security, ...) * Live docs for arbitrary languages and binary libraries * Preservation of historical software and games * Virtualization of legacy Windows enterprise apps. * Dev environment for Web IDEs Just a few examples, the list could go on for long
- tamimio 2y ago
  Very interesting, thanks! and good luck on the project.
- getpokedagain 2y ago
  installing emacs in my web browser?
griftrejection 2y ago
[dead]
old_hat 2y ago
This isn't WebVM specifically, but one example using WebContainers we've built is https://demo.graphweaver.com/ https://demo.graphweaver.com/ This runs a NodeJS server and frontend in your browser so you can see what Graphweaver can do without having to install or run anything more than a browser on your computer. The example has an SQLite database joined to a REST API. Graphweaver serves a GraphQL API with the result.
_moof 2y ago
Making your senior engineers take off their glasses, sigh, and pinch the bridge of their nose.
- 2y ago

ptspts 2y ago

It doesn't work in my Chrome on Android. The cursor is blinking, nothing happens. If a browser is not supported, the site should display a specific error message.

cebert 2y ago
Works fine for me on Android

jrm4 2y ago

[flagged]

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

danans 2y ago

Can it be made to work offline and keep state locally between reloads?

apignotti 2y ago
Working offline is not truly possible since that would require downloading the full 2GB disk image, which is something that is deliberately avoided by the system architecture. State is already locally maintained via IndexedDB, no data is ever sent back or saved on our servers.
- theragra 2y ago
  For many people that's not an issues, so maybe you need to add it someday.

xyst 2y ago

Looks like it’s broken on mobile

Zambyte 2y ago
Works for me in Firefox Focus on Android
nasretdinov 2y ago
Worked on stock iOS in Safari! Must've taken them ages to debug...

localfirst 2y ago

can i run a webserver that can talk with the internet and others can call

liamYC 2y ago
I suspect you’d have trouble opening ports on the client’s machine. Maybe you could use a dedicated http proxy the client talks to
koolala 2y ago
A custom service worker might be able to proxy for you without needing Tail Scale.
fragmede 2y ago
Tailscale funnel should work. I'll double-check when I'm back home if someone else hasn't.

sitkack 2y ago

It even emulates fork!

cajesaw4 2y ago

[flagged]

cajesaw4 2y ago

[flagged]

supportengineer 2y ago

$ uptime Error: /proc must be mounted

dangoodmanUT 2y ago

ungodly slow on apple silicon

doctor_eval 2y ago

I first used Slackware Linux off floppies in the mid 90s, yet every time I see linux in the browser I am gobsmacked. I’ve said for a while that a browser is basically its own operating system. Now it can host operating systems!

ladysera 2y ago

Hi, this looks really amazing, will give it a try later thanks

remram 2y ago

Totally unusable on mobile unfortunately (at least Firefox and Chrome on Android). Might be a limitation of how the keyboard works, but every command gets duplicated (at least) when I enter it.

zoom6628 2y ago
Using Brave browser on iPhoneXR works nicely.

nyanpasu64 2y ago

Can we port Adobe Flash to WebVM to avoid having to pay for "CheerpX for Flash"?

unsolvedcypher 2y ago
Have you tried Ruffle? It's also capable of running Flash in the browser.
fragmede 2y ago
Why do you want to scam them out of their hard work?

spankalee 2y ago

Cool, but very often my keystrokes aren't showing up, making this pretty unusable. Also, for the use case of local dev environment for Web IDEs, this doesn't look fast enough. node --version runs fast after the first time, but executing any JavaScript is very, very slow: user@:~$ time node -e "console.log('Hello')" Hello real 0m7.693s user 0m0.012s sys 0m0.000s

jkhanlar 2y ago

bash: man: command not found

novolunt 2y ago

[dead]

jfmc 2y ago

Note that "CheerpX enables you to run existing 32-bit x86 native binaries". For some reason support for wasm64 (in browsers) has been stagnated for years, which is a pity.

pjmlp 2y ago
Most WASM, WebGL and WebGPU features take ages in browsers, measured in decades.
- saagarjha 2y ago
  You do understand that most of these features were conceived of maybe a decade ago, if at all?

Uptrenda 2y ago

Now just needs some kind of hack for networking through a browser extension and this would be so awesome.

Tajnymag 2y ago
Networking is already supported through the Tailscale network. Once you login, the vm should be able to connect to the internet through your exit node.

bfung 2y ago

server-less - like the server that runs the browser that the VM runs inside. /sarcasm

jbritton 2y ago

Where are files located, server, client, browser local storage? How do you import a .exe compiled elsewhere, curl, scp? This is a Linux environment, but it can run Windows apps? How does that work?

me551ah 2y ago

Now if only I could install chrome via apt and run it inside of this linux machine.

Animats 2y ago

Love the buzzwords. It's a Linux command line environment running in a browser. Slowly.

parasti 2y ago
Have to agree, that description is more confusing than anything. I guess JS code that a web browser executes is considered "serverless" now.
koreankid227 2y ago
Lol I was so confused

revskill 2y ago

Sweet, could i run a nodejs http api directly from browser ?

hexo 2y ago

Let me fix the title: "WebVM is a wasm VM running in browser"

dchest 2y ago

Looks like the underlying project is not open source: "WebVM is based on a CheerpX build that we host. We encourage users to deploy their own versions of WebVM, but we don’t currently allow self-hosting of the CheerpX engine itself. This public build of CheerpX is provided as-is and is free to use for technological exploration, testing and non-commercial uses. If you want to build a product on top of CheerpX/WebVM, please get in touch:" https://labs.leaningtech.com/blog/mini-webvm-your-linux-box-from-dockerfile-via-wasm https://labs.leaningtech.com/blog/mini-webvm-your-linux-box-...

jckahn 2y ago
That’s a shame. I was excited at first, but my interest in this project is now gone.
- Zetaphor 2y ago
  Agreed, even the ability to self host the closed source WASM binary would have been acceptable.

marmaduke 2y ago

Can this run NFS or other network filesystems?

languagehacker 2y ago

First thing I tried was `apt-get install emacs` and it hung on downloading. Editor preferences aside, I assume any nonstandard package will have the same problem. Interesting idea, but apart from trivial glue you may not need more than a container or unikernel for anyway, I'm struggling to understand a practical use case.

phibz 2y ago

Seems like having tailscale or at least wireguard would be really useful in this