Show HN: Microterm runs Linux VM in any browser tab via WASM, RISCV64 emulation (opens in new tab)

(microterm.dev)

6 pointsXlab1mo ago2 comments

Microterm is a fully compliant Linux virtual machine that runs in any browser tab. It is designed for real development and operations workflows, not demo-only terminal output. You can use it on desktop, tablets, and phones, including iOS home-screen PWA installs.

Under the hood, Microterm combines Restty (libghostty + WebGPU) web terminal rendering and a TinyEMU-backed Alpine Linux guest on RISC-V64. The VM image is chunk-loaded in the browser and booted locally.

I successfully used it to run Codex directly without leaving an in-app preview inside X app or Telegram :) Can be used to SSH to any server, play with Kubernetes and Tailscale.

Let me know what you guys think!!

2 comments

pacifika1mo ago

This is very cool and replaces a whole class of applications on iOS in terms of networking tools and web development.

Saw the docs are still minimal so understanding high level usecases is still a challenge for me.

The docs should at least evidence that I can use this securely. Can I verify the customisations to the base alpine Linux somewhere? Tech is great just wonder about the trust issue.

jwrallie1mo ago

Many potential applications, specially on iOS. It’s Alpine so I assume the image should be customized before loading it instead of having local persistence. I wonder if this could be bootstrapped locally somehow on iOS.

Any comparisons in terms of performance with iSH?

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