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Google Native Client Puts x86 On the Web

Posted by timothy on from the which-can-then-be-virtualized-ad-infinitum dept.

t3rmin4t0r writes "Google has announced its Google native client, which enables x86 native code to be run securely inside a browser. With Java applets already dead and buried, this could mean the end of the new war between browsers and the various JavaScript engines (V8, Squirrelfish, Tracemonkey). The only question remains whether it can be secured (ala ActiveX) and whether the advantages carry over onto non-x86 platforms. The package is available for download from its Google code site. Hopefully, I can finally write my web apps in asm." Note: the Google code page description points out that this is not ready for production use: "We've released this project at an early, research stage to get feedback from the security and broader open-source communities." Reader eldavojohn links to a technical paper linked from that Google code page [PDF] titled "Native Client: A Sandbox for Portable, Untrusted x86 Native Code," and suggests this in-browser Quake demo, which requires the Native Code plug-in.

19 of 367 comments (clear)

  1. The important (and finally valid!) question by Faw · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does it run Linux??

    1. Re:The important (and finally valid!) question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Does it run Linux??

      I just tried Debian PPC, and apparently, no it doesn't.

    2. Re:The important (and finally valid!) question by mikeee · · Score: 3, Funny

      So as if javascript isn't bad enough, now we're going to have the inevitable beowulf cluster running across the tabs of our browsers?

  2. Re:doesn't sound too secure yet by Sockatume · · Score: 4, Funny

    You could work around that compatability issue easily, just set up the browser so it runs inside a preset virtual machine or emulator on the host, so that you can just write x86 code for that virtual machine/emulator rather than executing it directly.* (I heard you like programs, so I put a machine in your machine so you can execute while you execute.)

    *Someone may have thought of this already.

    --
    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  3. Did they really just... by geminidomino · · Score: 5, Funny

    The only question remains whether it can be secured (ala ActiveX)

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *gasp* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHA *wipes eyes*
    HAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

  4. GREAT IDEA by scsizor · · Score: 5, Funny

    BIG thanks from Russia. i hope it catches on!

  5. google x86 by ablizz · · Score: 3, Funny

    Does this mean I can run old DOS games in a browser?
    Silent Service II!

    1. Re:google x86 by John+Hasler · · Score: 3, Funny

      It means you can run old DOS games in your neighbor's browser.

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    2. Re:google x86 by Sloppy · · Score: 2, Funny

      It means you can DoS your neighbor's browser.

      --
      As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
  6. Re:doesn't sound too secure yet by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 3, Funny

    The industry will solve it the usual way: They will put an x86 chip inside!

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  7. More importantly.... by PinkyDead · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does Linux run on it?

    (Prompting a possibly valid "In Soviet Russia" gag).

    --
    Genesis 1:32 And God typed :wq!
  8. Re:doesn't sound too secure yet by VGPowerlord · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's a Java system! I know this!

    --
    GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
  9. Re:doesn't sound too secure yet by phoenix321 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yep, they're re-inventing the wheel, how cool is that?

  10. With Java applets already dead and buried by Hognoxious · · Score: 2, Funny

    With Java applets already dead and buried

    Nothing on Netcraft yet...

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  11. Re:doesn't sound too secure yet by Wescotte · · Score: 4, Funny

    (I just love it when my browser runs unmanaged code full of unverified branch statements!)

    Bah! Where's your sense of adventure?!?

  12. Quake in the browser! by yeremein · · Score: 2, Funny

    Clearly, playing Quake in the browser is the killer app for this technology.

  13. Re:doesn't sound too secure yet by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Funny

    Um the way things work with software is the program sends opt-codes to the CPU which interns translates them to particular basic actions.

    Ah ha!
    So that is the secret!!

    Cheap intern labor!

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  14. Re:doesn't sound too secure yet by prockcore · · Score: 5, Funny

    Knock Knock.
    Who's there?
    .
    .
    .
    (long pause)
    .
    .
    .
    Java.

  15. you can have both! by ajrs · · Score: 2, Funny

    JIT emulation is the worst of both possible worlds! The extra overhead of the bytecode to native translations and the extra overhead of emulation!