Linux in a browser
Posted: April 7th, 2011, 6:35 am
The JPC guys have demonstrated Damn Small Linux running in a browser, but it runs so slowly that it's a pain to even play Minesweeper. With the release of jDosbox, I've been inspired to see if I could do better.
First of all, is DSL the best choice of Linux? Considerations for an online version of Linux include low system requirements (jDosbox can reasonably be considered a 486DX 25/33) and small footprint. DSL is no longer maintained, and its 50 MB image is a big download. Tiny Core Linux is about 10 MB, and uses the latest Linux kernel. Even more exciting, BasicLinux runs on a 386 with 3 MB of RAM (but requires 20 MB of disk space), and it runs on top of DOS (no need for a Linux partition!)
I created a 100 MB hard drive image for BasicLinux and tried running it after booting from a FreeDOS boot disk. It complained about running from Virtual 8086 Mode without a VCPI, so I added EMM386 to my boot disk. BasicLinux no longer complained about wanting to boot from Real Mode, and the bootup process got underway. Eventually it got stuck and started using 100% of the core's CPU cycles. BasicLinux can also run from two floppy disks and 12 MB of RAM, but I've had no luck booting from disk1.img, or creating a disk image from it using the included fdimage.exe while in DOSBox (fdimage complains that disk1.img is too large). It may not be possible to run BasicLinux from DOSBox, which is really disappointing because it seemed like the best candidate.
I've been unable to boot the Tiny Core Linux ISO in DOSBox. I tried booting it in Bochs, but Bochs goes into kernel panic after the initial TCL boot screen.
In theory, both Tiny Core Linux and especially BasicLinux should run faster in JPC than Damn Small Linux, so I'm willing to give it a shot, but apparently Thursday is a work day, so I can't work on this right now. I would much prefer to get some version of Linux (with a GUI) running in DOSBox, so I'd appreciate the community's help with this quest.
First of all, is DSL the best choice of Linux? Considerations for an online version of Linux include low system requirements (jDosbox can reasonably be considered a 486DX 25/33) and small footprint. DSL is no longer maintained, and its 50 MB image is a big download. Tiny Core Linux is about 10 MB, and uses the latest Linux kernel. Even more exciting, BasicLinux runs on a 386 with 3 MB of RAM (but requires 20 MB of disk space), and it runs on top of DOS (no need for a Linux partition!)
I created a 100 MB hard drive image for BasicLinux and tried running it after booting from a FreeDOS boot disk. It complained about running from Virtual 8086 Mode without a VCPI, so I added EMM386 to my boot disk. BasicLinux no longer complained about wanting to boot from Real Mode, and the bootup process got underway. Eventually it got stuck and started using 100% of the core's CPU cycles. BasicLinux can also run from two floppy disks and 12 MB of RAM, but I've had no luck booting from disk1.img, or creating a disk image from it using the included fdimage.exe while in DOSBox (fdimage complains that disk1.img is too large). It may not be possible to run BasicLinux from DOSBox, which is really disappointing because it seemed like the best candidate.
I've been unable to boot the Tiny Core Linux ISO in DOSBox. I tried booting it in Bochs, but Bochs goes into kernel panic after the initial TCL boot screen.
In theory, both Tiny Core Linux and especially BasicLinux should run faster in JPC than Damn Small Linux, so I'm willing to give it a shot, but apparently Thursday is a work day, so I can't work on this right now. I would much prefer to get some version of Linux (with a GUI) running in DOSBox, so I'd appreciate the community's help with this quest.