nowfound

Life & fun · August 15, 2013

VM

Virtual Machines in the Browser

Virtual Machines in the Browser launched on August 15, 2013 with 281 votes, #2 of 475 launches that month and more than 99% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 13 years on.

Visit blog.grunseid.com ↗Alternativestop 1% of August 2013

In plain words

Virtual Machines in the Browser allows developers to run Python and C applications directly in web browsers, eliminating the need for server-side processing. Built to address the challenges of distributing native applications across multiple operating systems, it enables browsers to execute software like ffmpeg and other Linux tools that typically require server infrastructure. This shifts computational work to client machines, reducing hosting costs and maintenance burden for web application developers.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

I want to build apps in Python and C and ship them in the browser. I can't. I ran full steam into this problem when I built Dirpy, a web app that records MP3s from YouTube. I could have built a native app in Python and C, but to test, distribute, and maintain builds for every OS is a total nightmare. So I built Dirpy as a web app, did all the work on servers, and paid $10,000 every month in hosting costs. This was painful, expensive, and inefficient. Clients are more than capable of transcoding video; the problem is browsers aren't. Browsers can't run Linux software like ffmpeg, can't run Python, can't reach native performance, and can't make cross-domain requests. Why can't I distribute…from blog.grunseid.com

Does a similar job

all alternatives →

More life & fun this month

the category →

Source: Show HN post ↗

Launched alongside, August 2013

the whole month →