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0 pointsMisterTea8mo ago0 comments

Inferno was initially released in 1996, 21 years before WASM existed.

An inferno built using WASM would be interesting. Though WASI would likely be supplanted by a Plan 9/Inferno interface possibly with WASI compatibility. Instead of a hacked up hyper text viewer you start with a real portable virtual OS that can run hosted or native. Then you build whatever you'd like on top like HTML renderers, JS interpreters, media players/codecs, etc. You profile is a user account so you get security for free using the OS mechanisms. Would make a very interesting platform.

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zozbot2348mo ago

WASI has nothing to do with hypertext though. Even WASM itself is not especially web centric, despite the name.

MisterTeaOP8mo ago

I am well aware of that. My point is a web browser, originally a hypertext viewer, is now a clunky runtime for all sorts of ad-hoc standards including a WASM VM. So instead, start with a portable WASM VM that is a light weight OS that you build a browser inside of composed of individual components like Lego. You get all the benefits of having a real OS including process isolation, memory management, file system, security, and tooling. WASI is a POSIX like ABI/API that does not fit the Plan 9/Inferno design as they thankfully aren't Unix.

zozbot2348mo ago

The WASI folks are accepting new API proposals. If the existing API does not fit an Inferno-like design, you can propose tweaked APIs in order to improve that fit.

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zozbot2348mo ago

WASI has nothing to do with hypertext though. Even WASM itself is not especially web centric, despite the name.

MisterTeaOP8mo ago

zozbot2348mo ago

The WASI folks are accepting new API proposals. If the existing API does not fit an Inferno-like design, you can propose tweaked APIs in order to improve that fit.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse