A Linux system running over JavaScript [LWN.net]

A Linux system running over JavaScript

Posted May 17, 2011 15:02 UTC (Tue) by clump (subscriber, #27801)
Parent article: A Linux system running over JavaScript

This opens a world of possibilities. I'm extremely impressed.

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A Linux system running over JavaScript

Posted May 18, 2011 8:46 UTC (Wed) by robert_s (subscriber, #42402) [Link] (1 responses)

"This opens a world of possibilities."

Does it? I'm extremely worried if anyone plans on using this for something mainstream, as impressive as it is.

A Linux system running over JavaScript

Posted May 19, 2011 14:02 UTC (Thu) by clump (subscriber, #27801) [Link]

Why be worried? Is creating a virtual machine from a browser any more or less of a cause for concern than "normal" ways of starting virtual machines?

As per possibilities, the traditional ways of starting machines are (roughly): 1) bare metal, 2) subsets of bare metal, or 3) using relatively dedicated software to start virtual machines. Starting a virtual machine from a web browser is new way of starting virtual machines, with a very common denominator.

security interest

Posted May 18, 2011 11:57 UTC (Wed) by copsewood (subscriber, #199) [Link] (1 responses)

I imagine an early application will be more extensive fuzz testing of the Javascript sandbox security implementation. This will hopefully lead to better sandboxes. Unfortunately it's also likely to lead to more undisclosed zero day exploits being sold to intelligence agencies and crooks.

security interest

Posted May 18, 2011 12:14 UTC (Wed) by epa (subscriber, #39769) [Link]

I imagine an early application will be more extensive fuzz testing of the Javascript sandbox security implementation.

Doubtful. If you wanted to test Javascript security you'd do it by writing Javascript code directly, not by writing 386 machine code which runs in an emulated machine implemented in Javascript.