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Linux In JavaScript, With Persistent Storage
An anonymous reader writes "Remember Fabrice bellard's [Linux-booting PC emulator in JavaScript] ? This modified version [Note: click on "emulator.html" in that directory to see it in action] allows the same emulator to boot the most recent linux kernel, 3.0.4, as well as providing the user with persistent storage. It is achieved by building a virtual block device, which stores data in HTML5 local storage. The block device can be partitioned and formatted as ext2, so it can be easily used."
I really hope that this JavaScript fad blows over soon. While it was just mildly annoying back in 2008 when it started picking up steam, now it's just getting stupid.
Look, JavaScript was a mistake. It was poorly designed from the beginning, and it took 15 years before implementations of it weren't complete shit. Hell, it's basically a mistake of history and circumstance that it's so widely available.
As a language, there's nothing special about it. It's not "Scheme-with-a-C-like-syntax" like some foolish people claim. It's doesn't even do prototyped-based OO sensibly (refer to Self to see it done correctly). It's just a half-assed scripting language.
And don't go blaming the DOM for JavaScript's bad reputation. It's a poor language in any context. Lua is a better scripting language, and Python is a better prototyping language, and Java, C++ and C# are better languages for building large networked applications.
Get over it, guys. There's nothing special about JavaScript. It's merely a limited version of essentially every other programming language ever implemented. Just because you can use it to do stuff that other languages can easily do it does not mean that JavaScript is "unique" in any way.
The Ruby fad has already ended. I hope the JavaScript one ends just as swiftly.