Slashdot Mirror
Emulated PC Enables Linux Desktop In Your Browser
Ianopolous writes "Classic DOOM and DSL Linux Desktop inside your Java-enabled browser! The latest JPC, the fast 100% Java x86 PC emulator, is now available with online demos and downloads. JPC is open source and is the most secure way of running x86 software ever — 2 layers (applet sandbox, JPC sandbox) of independently validated security make it the world's most secure means of isolating x86 software. Visit the website to try out some classic games and play around with Linux all within your web browser. Refresh = reboot!"
And it'll still be more responsive than slashdot.
Just what you want - an even easier way to lose data from your VM. Why rely on bugs and crashes when an accidental refresh can reboot your machine?!
Wow! I can have a program emulated by an interpreter runnning on it's own virtual emulated pc. Think of the pure speed!
For their next main event, may I suggest running a java-based java-interpreter, on the java-based java-interpreter as a host, think of the speed gain!
I'm just waiting for somebody to go, "fuck that Java shit." But read the summary, people! Secure means security which means secure!
Also: But can it run Crysis?
I heard you like running x86 so we emulated your x86 in java to run on your x86.
Yo dawg,
I herd you like Operating systems, so we put a Operating system in your Browser so you can Browse Operating systems while you browse in yo operating system!
They must've been using IE to run their web server inside of it
A Beowulf cluster of these.... In tabs on your browser.
No it's not. Site's down.
I heard you like virtual machines and browsers, so I built a virtual machine to run on a virtual machine so you can browse from your virtual machine that's running on a virtual machine in your browser.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
Man, this is totally awesome!
...
Hmmm... I wonder if I can run VMware in it.
Blow, tripple booting.... three operating systems three deep!!!!
Bwahhhahahahahahah.... I will control the world!
Bow before your... oh..... It's been done before....
Nevermind!
Signature!
random link! summer vacation
JPC has been around for at least 3 years, and on Slashdot at least twice before.
I hadn't known there were so many idiots in the world until I started using the Internet -Stanislaw Lem
Can I run a C64 simulator in the PC simulator ?
I saw this article and couldn't figure out why I would want to run an x86 emulator in my browser, so I clicked to see other people's comments. Apparently no one else on slashdot can figure out why someone would want to do that either.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
bool $#t
As much as the JVM has proved to be rock-solid (buffer overrun/overflow are impossible in Java code: if it happens then the JVM is not specs-compliant... The only buffer overrun/overflow known were in third party, C-written lib [zlib comes to mind]), the applet sandbox inside the various browsers as proven to be a major PITA. Java applet didn't just gave Java a bad name for being so pathetically lame, ugly and slow... But also notoriously insecure: there are so many security issues regarding applets it's not even funny anymore.
Browser inside Damn Small Linux inside JPC inside my browser... Probably hard to break that that said.
But I'm not switching from my "reimaged Xen browsing VM as soon as I close my browser" anytime soon ;)
(yup, I use a Xen [para-virtualized, not hardware-virt] Linux VM which's sole purpose is browsing and everytime I relaunch the "browser", that Xen VM is re-imaged).
Hack that ;)
I saw this article and couldn't figure out why I would want to run an x86 emulator in my browser, so I clicked to see other people's comments. Apparently no one else on slashdot can figure out why someone would want to do that either.
Are you serious? Just imagine those things running in a Beo^H^H^H Firefox Cluster!
Run from a stick (or from a basic web server) on a computer without a lot of privileges?
the world's most secure means of isolating x86 software
I seriously doubt this claim...
What about? http://www.nsa.gov/research/tech_transfer/fact_sheets/nettop.shtml
Or its predecessor? http://www.nsa.gov/ia/programs/h_a_p/releases/hapr1.shtml
Most import question: Can I get flash support so I can use it on my iPhone?
do they provide sourcecode ?
(really interested if they do )
virtualbox is pretty nifty but inside a JVM is pretty impressive from a engineering point of view
have they published any work on this ?
regards
John Jones
This isn't a new thing, I've seen it, we've all seen it. How come the things I submit that are new and cool don't get accepted in favour of old news? In other news, fuck this Java shit.
I don' think Applet deployment is the target for that project; if they are offering this option it's certainly just for quick demo sake. Notice also that the applet would need some serious time to download because (1) the emulator itself is reasonably big, (2) you need a virtual disk image containing the whole OS and apps; even a small FreeDOS distro with a couple of tiny DOS games will weight in a few hundred Kb, although the problem is mostly for first run as the Java PlugIn can cache everything.
As I see it, JPC's main goal is showing off some amazing virtualization technology that they have developed - the emulated x86 code is JIT-compiled by JPC's engine into Java bytecodes, which are in turn JIT-compiled by the JVM to native code, so the net result is full native-to-native translation. (If both steps are sufficiently efficient and the host platform is also x86, the compiled code may even be very similar to the original code.) This remembers of similar systems like Transmeta's Crusoe.
As a secondary goal,. JPC is becoming a pretty nice general-purpose PC emulator, so it's potentially just as useful as other PC emulators like Bochs. If JPC reaches sufficiently close to native performance (I tested it ~1yr ago and it's slashdotted now), and includes sufficient hardware compatibility, it's obviously an advantage to be a Java program, fully portable including UI.
Running low in RAM? Just run this emulated PC in your browser and you can double your memory! Watch your memory multiply for each tab you run!
I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
It's so we can run Windows 3.11 on top of Windows 2000 on top of Windows XP on top of Windows Vista on top of Windows 7 which is inside a browser running on Java inside Windows 2000 which is on top of Windows XP, which is on top of Vista, which is on top of 7.
And it may even have enough speed to run as fast as a 386 25MHz...
Having a PC emulator written in Java means to be able to run any previously-written x86 code on any Java-enabled machine out there, forever. And don’t forget about mobile devices, too. JPC needs not to be run in a browser, it can be run standalone, and has already been ported to high-end phones - I, for one, think that running Windows 3.1 on a phone is quite cool. Running old games might even be funny. :D) of ancient software;
Perhaps JPC could be ported to an xlet and, say, ran off a bluray disc or a dvb-t transmission. OK, I hate both of them, but the point is that achieving platform-independence opens up many possibilities.
It’s not less useful than the many old-systems emulators available on the net - and those get quite a lot of followers.
I’d say that it can be useful for:
- preservation (and enjoyment
- interoperability with not-so-ancient software.
So what happens when I load this site up, load up Firefox within the "OS in a browser", navigate to the site, and load up Firefox within the "OS in a browser in an OS in a browser"?
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
fast or Java?
I can't see why would anyone wants to download an applet just to run a VM on his own machine. Now, if the VM runs on the server, that will be another story.
The same people who dig http://www.virtualapple.org/ or think FreeDos is still relevant. People who are know vinyl has something CDs can't replicate. People who know the pinnacle of gaming was either Nethack or Ultima 7 (Depending on whether you prefer gameplay or story).
I was wondering, if we run a Java x86 PC emulator that is emulating an Amiga that is emulating a Spectrum, is it still faster than a real Spectrum or do we need to optimise it a bit?
There are 10 kinds of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.
It's a good (for given values of good) way of turning those old bits of legacy code into web apps. How many businesses have you seen that depend on some bit of 16-bit Windows software, probably written in VB or Delphi, which had source code once but no one's seen a copy for a decade? These programs ran okay on a 386 and ran well on a 486. Now they'll run in a web browser on whatever platform you want, including something very cheap like a Loongson 2F or ARM.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
"Classic DOOM and DSL Linux Desktop inside your Java-enabled browser! The latest JPC, the fast 100% Java x86 PC emulator, is now available with online demos and downloads. JPC is open source [...] Visit the website to try out some classic games and [...]"
Where it mentions playing DOOM and other DOS games, JPC is booting FreeDOS. So yes, this can run FreeDOS.
Here's a screenshot of FreeDOS in action on JPC, if you need one.
In fact, we've discussed the Java PC emulator on the FreeDOS web site since JPC was first released. We even link to it on our "About" page and "Links" page. It's a great way to introduce new users to the idea of running DOS, without asking them to install their own PC emulator, or even install FreeDOS at all.
Java PC has been released under the GNU GPL since May 2007, so to answer your question: source code is available. We mirrored an old copy of the source code from 2007, but looks like we haven't made further copies. But maybe it's enough to interest folks who don't want to wait for the JPC site to recover from its slashdotting today.
2 layers (applet sandbox, JPC sandbox) of independently validated security make it the world's most secure means of isolating x86 software
I contest this notion (if I understand their setup correctly; the website is broken so I've some uncertainty about what they're doing). I agree that it's likely a very secure setup, but I disagree that the two lawyers of Java VM security makes it the most secure setup for running x86.
The common Java VM is a single point of failure. Both layers of "independently validated security" are running in Java VM, so if there is an exploit in the runtime interpreter (or compiled executable, if they're compiling things now), it may be used to circumvent both sandboxes. Using two different Java VMs would be an improvement, but better still would be orthogonal interpreters (on the plane of security vectors) such as a Java VM and a Python interpreter. Both are nevertheless still probably calling some version of glibc on x86 machine code.
If I were to speculate (and I will), I'd say that Xen et al virtualization has fewer vectors, and better still would be x86 virtualization running on top of a mainframe ala. z/VM. That would, in theory, be more secure than this Java VM on Java VM setup. Of course, it all comes down to the implementations in the end (and, as a practical matter, how big a target they are - Java is a big target for security, z/VM less so).
Again, though, I think this Java VM is likely very secure. Claiming it's the world's most secure is puffery, though, in my humble opinion.
First intelligent comment.
Indeed there are a large number of old, decrepit applications out there, such as those running on MSDOS, old Cobol programs, or even worse, IE5 intranet crapware.
The acronym for that is:
TIARA - This Is A Recursive Acronym
IJIT (I Just Invented It)
I say things which affects my Karma negatively. (and I don't care) For instance; All religion is false.
Infidel. Turn your geek badge on the way out.
Perhaps to help introduce Windows users to alternate operating systems without needing them to install anything? Assuming this works like any Java applet. Although any presentable average-user desktop would have to come with a pretty big HD to download into your cache...
That doesn't mean there a other problems, a very good example:
http://blog.cr0.org/2009/05/write-once-own-everyone.html
New things are always on the horizon
Of course, you meant to expand it as 'TIARA is a recursive acronym'.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
...and now it won't even POST.
....the JPC on ClassicDOSGames.com rather than this site.
And we'll keep on posting it until they learn how to survive a slashdotting.
woops - yes
I say things which affects my Karma negatively. (and I don't care) For instance; All religion is false.
Also IJII instead of IJIT.
No need to thank me for pointing out your error to the thousands of people viewing this page. Unless you really want to, of course.
Infidel. Turn your geek badge on the way out.
So, you're saying I have it upside down?
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
A Beowulf cluster within each node constructed with the tabs of each node's browser. Then put this within an actual Beowulf cluster.
Then grab some popcorn and watch.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Skynet will wake up there, say "WTF? Where am I?!", get confused and die, thus saving humanity who will never appreciate how JPC saved us from our machine overlords. Security through serious obscurity FTW!
Or the computer the JVM is run on will need rebooting long before Skynet can complete the thought. Whichever.
People who are know vinyl has something CDs can't replicate.
So many worlds. But connecting them all is Dust. Dust was here before the witches of the air, the Gyptians of the water, and the bears of the ice. In my world, scholars invented an alethiometer - a golden compass - and it showed them all that was hidden. But the ruling power, fearing any truth but their own, destroyed these devices and forbade the very mention of Dust.
Squirrel!
Boot into a newfangled FireLinux distribution using Firefox as the desktop, cloud resident data, and Java to run whatever you want, given the FOSS emulator to do so.
...
Then write a Java emulator for Java to run Java within Java within Java within Java
Her lips were softer than a duck's bill, but her quacks
Apparently nobody has remembered the last time they played a Scorched Earth marathon. But now you can play in your browser, and not some hacky remake that's changed gameplay too much or is missing features. Now if only I could figure out where to get a good download... It's been too long.
I saw this article and couldn't figure out why I would want to run an x86 emulator in my browser, so I clicked to see other people's comments.
Duh, so that you can run ActiveX in your Firefox on Linux, obviously! Now how cool is that, eh? ~
The origin of the term is from the thedailywtf.com site. It means to have layers upon layers of pointless abstractions that do nothing but slow everything down and make it more error- and security-hole-prone, as compared to abstractions that make sense.
It as an antipattern, and all in all a massive failure.
Compare this thing to running the app right on the CPU. Or even running it in VirtualBox (if you need that encapsulation).
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
No, it needs to be banished.
Ulteo http://www.ulteo.com/home/en/home?a=view&autolang=en has been running linux through a java applet for a while, or you can run open office inside your browser. What is the difference?
OT: Any chance of writing a bot that visits coral-cache versions of the links in any article that's about to hit the front page? At least latecomers to the article would then have a fighting chance of seeing what the fuss was about in the brief seconds the server was online.
So I tell my boss that I'm testing a Linux desktop... by playing games in my browser?! Sweet action, I'm in. Happy Friday!
...that this means you can install Linux natively on any networked PC, and run Windows securely in the cloud?
I saw this article and couldn't figure out why I would want to run an x86 emulator in my browser.
I'm running SPARC you insensitive clod!
Something about comparing FreeDOS (or any other DOS for that matter) to vinyl just makes my head hurt...
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
GNU - GNU's Not Linux
Pine - Pine Is not Elm
I'm sure there's more, but these two came to mind.
(My favourite tech acronym is still TWAIN, though.)
/var/run/twitter.sock is a twitter socket puppet.
Oh, and re:your sig... didn't PHP stand for PHP Hypertext P(rep)rocessor or something?
/var/run/twitter.sock is a twitter socket puppet.
But actually, there is a bottom. The bottom is a self-emulating virtual machine.
What, no turtles? :(
it's obviously an advantage to be a Java program, fully portable including UI.
Imagine playing quake on a beow^W^H Android phone cluster of those.
"Let's see, down the water, swim back in, enter the tunnel, nightmare difficulty. Yeah, episode 1. Take that, you ugly gru... huh? Out of battery, wtf!!"
Side-Note: Flash blocks every key, but people don't seem to complain about that? :P
In Soviet Russia people block Flash!
Wait... that doesn't sound right...
We both said a lot of things that you are going to regret.
I'm guessing that it only runs on x86 plartforms?
There was an unknown error in the submission.
I'm running Cell, you insensitive clod.
Just tried it out on my PS3 with YDL 6.1 installed, no dice.
You need to get out and breath some fresh air.
Running Windows 3.1 on your phone isn't cool even in the purely academic sense.
The fact that you think its cool means you have absolutely no clue what your operating system is there for in the first place.
Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
Yo dawg! I heard you like Linux, so we put Linux in your Linux so you can use Linux while you use Linux!
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
Why yes, I am a MS shill. I earned US$10 for this post alone!
There. That's better.
"Refresh = reboot!"
So it can run Windows then???????!!!!!!!!
Sorry. ^^
Promote true freedom - support standards and interoperability.
Fast 100% Java - now that's the definition of oxymoron right there.
Playing old DOS games in a browser is cool enough for me. I have an old DOS application I would like to run in a browser but I don't know if its possible yet because it uses protected mode. The possibility of running an x86 emulator in any Java supported platform is at least technically interesting.
"I think this line is mostly filler"