JSLinux Now Supports x86_64(bellard.org)
150 points by TechTechTech 5 hours ago | 35 comments
- simonw 2 hours agoThe thing I most want to use this (or some other WASM Linux engine) for is running a coding agent against a virtual operating system directly in my browser.
Claude Code / Codex CLI / etc are all great because they know how to drive Bash and other Linux tools.
The browser is probably the best sandbox we have. Being able to run an agent loop against a WebAssembly Linux would be a very cool trick.
I had a play with v86 a few months ago but didn't quite get to the point where I hooked up the agent to it - here's my WIP: https://tools.simonwillison.net/v86 - it has a text input you can use to send commands to the Linux machine, which is pretty much what you'd need to wire in an agent too.
In that demo try running "cat test.lua" and then "lua test.lua".
[-]- the_mitsuhiko 56 minutes ago> The thing I most want to use this (or some other WASM Linux engine) for is running a coding agent against a virtual operating system directly in my browser.
That exists: https://github.com/container2wasm/container2wasm
Unfortunately I found the performance to be enough of an issue that I did not look much further into it.
- jraph 1 hour agoSimon, this HN post didn't need to be about Gen AI.
This thing is really inescapable those days.
[-]- simonw 1 hour agoParallel thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47311484#47312829 - "I've always been fascinated by this, but I have never known what it would be useful for."
I should have replied there instead, my mistake.
- d_philla 45 minutes agoCheck out Jeff Lindsay's Apptron (https://github.com/tractordev/apptron), comes very close to this, and is some great tech all on its own.[-]
- progrium 8 minutes agoIt's getting there. Among other things, it's probably the quickest way to author a Linux environment to embed on the web: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGOHvWArOOE
Apptron uses v86 because its fast. Would love it for somebody to add 64-bit support to v86. However, Apptron is not tied to v86. We could add Bochs like c2w or even JSLinux for 64-bit, I just don't think it will be fast enough to be useful for most.
Apptron is built on Wanix, which is sort of like a Plan9-inspired ... micro hypervisor? Looking forward to a future where it ties different environments/OS's together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGBeT8lwbo0
- apignotti 1 hour agoWe are working on exactly this: https://browserpod.io
For a full-stack demo see: https://vitedemo.browserpod.io/
To get an idea of our previous work: https://webvm.io
- blackhaz 2 hours agoSorry for the off-topic, but what a bliss to see Windows 2000 interface. And what an absolute abomination from hell pretty much all the modern UIs are.[-]
- shevy-java 2 hours agoYeah. Microsoft really went downhill UI-wise.
- maxloh 4 hours agoUnfortunately, he didn't attach the source code for the 64-bit x86 emulation layer, or the config used to compile the hosted image.
For a more open-source version, check out container2wasm (which supports x86_64, riscv64, and AArch64 architectures): https://github.com/container2wasm/container2wasm
[-]- zamadatix 3 hours agohttps://github.com/copy/v86 might be a more 1:1 fully open sourced alternative.[-]
- maxloh 3 hours agoNot really. x86_64 is not supported yet: https://github.com/copy/v86/issues/133[-]
- zamadatix 38 minutes agoSure, and there are probably some other things lacking, but JSLinux supports a lot more than CLI Linux userspace on x86-64 too. E.g. compare to lack of graphical interface https://github.com/container2wasm/container2wasm/issues/196
It looks like container2wasm uses a forked version of Bochs to get the x86-64 kernel emulation to work. If one pulled that out separately and patched it a bit more to have the remaining feature support it'd probably be the closest overall. Of course one could say the same about patching anything with enough enthusiasm :).
- notorandit 3 hours agoIncredible guy!
- AlecMurphy 1 hour agoIf anyone is interested, I made some modifications last month to get TempleOS running on the x86_64 JSLinux: https://ring0.holyc.xyz/[-]
- zb3 10 minutes agoWow, thanks for this, this is exactly what v86 was missing! Runs faster than my demo: https://zb3.me/qemu-wasm-test/jspi-noffi/
Even though it has no JIT. Truly magic :)
- wolttam 3 hours agoI can launch this thing and start making arbitrary connections out to port 25 on the internet from some random IP? Hmm.[-]
- maxloh 3 hours agoFrom the "Technical notes" page:
> Access to Internet is possible inside the emulator. It uses the websocket VPN offered by Benjamin Burns (see his blog). The bandwidth is capped to 40 kB/s and at most two connections are allowed per public IP address. Please don't abuse the service.
- petcat 4 hours agoI've always been fascinated by this, but I have never known what it would be useful for. Does anyone know of any practical use cases?[-]
- postalrat 21 minutes agoSome sort of web based archive of applications/etc where you can boot them up in your browser.
- omoikane 3 hours agoI use bellard.org/jslinux to test compilation of strange code sometimes[1], since it came with compilers that are different versions from what I have installed locally, and it's easier to open up a browser than starting a VM.
[1] For example:
https://www.ioccc.org/2020/yang/index.html#:~:text=tcc%200.9...
https://www.ioccc.org/2018/yang/index.html#:~:text=tcc%200.9...
- toast0 3 hours agoI use a similar emulator (v86) as a way to share my hobby OS. Approximately zero people, even my friends, are going to boot my hobby OS on real hardware; I did manage to convince some of them to run it in qemu, but it's difficult. A browser environment shows the thing quite well; and easy networking is cool too.
My hobby OS itself is not very useful, but it's fun if you're in the right mood.
- redleader55 3 hours agoAgentic workloads create and then run code. You don't want to just run that code in a "normal" environment like a container, or even a very well protected VM. There are other options, ofc - eg. gvisor, crossvm, firecracker, etc, but this one is uncommon enough to have a small number of attackers trying to hack it.[-]
- srdjanr 2 hours agoWhat's wrong with a well protected VM? Especially compared to something where the security selling point is "no one uses it" (according to your argument; I don't know how secure this actually is)[-]
- g947o 47 minutes agoNothing, but "there are already working options" does not necessarily mean we shouldn't try new (and sometimes weird) things
- s-macke 3 hours agoMost such emulators have Internet access on the IP level. Therefore, this is a very cheap way to test anything on the Internet.
However, the speed is heavily throttled. You can even use ssh and login to your own server.apk add nmap nmap your.domain.comIt can also be used as a very cheap way to provide a complete build environment on a single website, for example to teach C/C++. Or to learn the shell. You don't have to install anything.
- varun_ch 3 hours agoMaybe if you’ve got some ancient software that’s missing source code and only runs with X Y and Z conditions, you could continue to offer it on the web and build around it like that? Not sure if that would be practical at all, but could be interesting
- westurner 3 hours agoHow do TinyEmu and JSLinux compare to linux-wasm?
From "Show HN: Amla Sandbox – WASM bash shell sandbox for AI agents" (2026) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46825119 :
>>> How to run vscode-container-wasm-gcc-example with c2w, with joelseverin/linux-wasm?
>> linux-wasm is apparently faster than c2w
From "Ghostty compiled to WASM with xterm.js API compatibility" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46118267 :
> From joelseverin/linux-wasm: https://github.com/joelseverin/linux-wasm :
>> Hint: Wasm lacks an MMU, meaning that Linux needs to be built in a NOMMU configuration
From https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46229385 :
>> There's a pypi:SystemdUnitParser.
- shevy-java 2 hours agoHe builds epicness.
- westurner 3 hours agoUBY: touchscreen: How to scroll the scrollback