March 22, 2026
Penguins in flip-flops
MAUI Is Coming to Linux
Microsoft brings MAUI to Linux and web—devs split between hype and eye-rolls
TLDR: Avalonia’s new backend lets .NET MAUI apps run on Linux and in the browser, promising same-look UIs everywhere. The community is torn between excitement, skepticism over Microsoft’s priorities, Wayland headaches, pricing fears, and confusion about WebAssembly—making this a hot, messy debate with real stakes for app builders.
Avalonia just dropped a preview that lets .NET MAUI apps run on Linux and even in the browser via WebAssembly—promise: add a package, target .NET 11, call UseAvaloniaApp, and go. The Avalonia team says the UI will look the same everywhere, thanks to their fully drawn approach, and they’ve juiced Avalonia 12 with new navigation goodies after porting apps like AlohaAI and MyConference.
The crowd? Instantly divided. One camp is cheering, curious if their existing apps will “just work.” Another camp is serving peak cynicism: “Microsoft pushing yet another framework no one asked for while WinForms still exists?” is the top meme, closely followed by “Linux support—sure, but have you met Wayland?” with devs explaining the maze of windows, surfaces, and popups like it’s a reality show challenge. Then came the pricing panic: a commenter did the math and cried “€125k per app?!” sparking a flurry of threads asking what’s actually free.
Meanwhile, WASM confusion lit up the chat—“So… does the browser have a UI or is this all JavaScript magic?”—as veterans debated native vs drawn aesthetics. Jokes flew: “MAUI on Linux is putting flip-flops on a penguin,” while others called it “finally, desktop parity without the Liquid Glass glow.” Drama? Delivered.
Key Points
- •Avalonia released the first preview of an Avalonia backend for .NET MAUI, adding Linux and WebAssembly targets.
- •Setup requires adding Avalonia.Controls.Maui.Desktop via NuGet, targeting net11.0, and calling UseAvaloniaApp in MauiBuilder.
- •Avalonia 12 introduces new navigation APIs and controls, driven by work to support .NET MAUI.
- •The backend’s MAUI handlers are built on Avalonia primitives, enabling full customization and consistent drawn UI across platforms.
- •Validation included porting apps (e.g., .NET MAUI control gallery, AlohaAI, MyConference) with adjustments for themes, trimming, NativeAOT, and WASM CORS.