Google’s Fuchsia will support running Linux applications
Recently, Google has added a Guest App for its newly-open source Fuchsia OS to enable Linux applications to run as virtual machines (VMs) in Fuchsia. This Guest App uses a library called Machina, which integrates more closely with the host operating system than traditional emulators.
Last month, Google introduced Crostini, a project technology that makes it easier for Chromebook users to run mainstream Linux applications in Chrome OS virtual machines. This week, Acer announced that the Chromebook Flip C101 will also provide Linux support later this year and is one of the few Chromebooks to support Linux applications.
Although Chrome OS will support Linux applications in addition to Android, this is not a big surprise because both Android and Chrome OS are based on Linux. However, one of the first things Google highlighted when launching Fuchsia in 2016 was that it was not based on the Linux kernel.
According to 9to5Google’s report earlier this year:
Fuchsia will include separate UIs: the Armadillo user interfaces for mobile phones and the Capybara user interface for desktops, and Android Things and other new Android variants that will tightly integrate Google Assistant voice technology. Essentially, this is the same plan as Microsoft’s failure to provide universal Windows or Canonical’s converged version of Ubuntu that has been disabled for mobile phones and laptops.
Regardless of the fate of Fuchsia, Google needs to attract mature applications and developers, and the best way to achieve this goal is to add Linux application compatibility. 9to5Google suggests that the new Guest application should initially support Linux-based platforms including Debian, and work better with QEMU by working with the Machina library.
Source: Linux.com
