JSLinux Now Supports x86_64

212 points50 comments7 hours ago
simonw

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.

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".

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blackhaz

Sorry 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.

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maxloh

Unfortunately, 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

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stjo

I love how nonchalantly demonstrates his custom terminal emulator and javascript engine.

AlecMurphy

If anyone is interested, I made some modifications last month to get TempleOS running on the x86_64 JSLinux: https://ring0.holyc.xyz/

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notorandit

Incredible guy!

wolttam

I can launch this thing and start making arbitrary connections out to port 25 on the internet from some random IP? Hmm.

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petcat

I'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?

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westurner

How 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

He builds epicness.

westurner

UBY: touchscreen: How to scroll the scrollback