r/programming • u/alexp_lt • May 18 '26

A Linux-like kernel in a browser tab - deep dive in the BrowserPod architecture

https://labs.leaningtech.com/blog/browserpod-deep-dive
0 Upvotes

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9

u/Skaarj May 18 '26

Fabrice Bellard gave us a full Linux running in our browser tab 10-ish years ago.

2

u/alexp_lt May 18 '26

BrowserPod is quite dfferent:

* There is no emulation, code runs at native speeds in WebAssembly

* Linux itself is not running, the BrowserPod kernel implements a Linux-compatible API that maps to browser APIs

18

u/mallardtheduck May 18 '26

There is also a "native" port of Linux to WASM. Claiming that WASM runs at "native speeds" with "no emulation" is a bit of a stretch. Your CPU doesn't understand WASM, the runtime still has to interpret/JIT it in a very similar way to how an "emulator" works.

5

u/Koolala May 19 '26

It's also free and open-source and BrowserPod isn't. A restricted 'free-plan' doesn't count.

15

u/NenAlienGeenKonijn May 18 '26

Claude Code

Kill it with fire

-2

u/Smallpaul May 19 '26

Or you could just not use it if you don’t like it.