March 29, 2026
OS in a tab: brave or bonkers?
Show HN: Crazierl – An Erlang Operating System
A DIY “Erlang OS” runs in your browser — thrill ride or security nightmare
TLDR: A browser-based “Erlang OS” demo lets you invite people into a shared session, but huge warnings say it’s insecure and risky. Commenters split between curiosity and caution: some see a clever Erlang showcase running in an emulator, others see a flashy toy with a giant “don’t try this on the open internet” label.
An audacious browser demo claims an “Erlang Operating System” you can spin up in a tab and invite friends to join by sharing a hashtag link. The catch? The warnings read like a horror movie: no encryption, no authentication, strangers could take over your node, and if the emulator breaks, maybe your browser too. Even an Erlang core dev is quoted saying, “no one in their right mind” would run it unsecured — and the crowd felt that.
Curiosity hit first. One user begged, “Is this built from scratch or stripped from something else?”, while another leaned into the vibe, arguing “Erlang is already an operating system for your code.” Translation for non‑nerds: Erlang’s superpower is managing tons of tiny tasks that never crash, so some folks think turning it into an “OS” is more philosophy than hardware. Others had practical questions: Is this magic actually a PC emulator in JavaScript? (Yep, it’s v86 under the hood.)
Then came the chaos: buried under do-not-try-this-at-home alarms and a note about California’s age law, the thread swerved off-road with a rant about “token economics” and web scraping — because it’s the internet, and the internet interneted. The vibe? Part LAN party, part DEFCON demo, all drama. Fans are impressed by the stunt; skeptics say it’s a cool toy with a big red “do not press” button. Either way, everyone’s clicking — carefully.
Key Points
- •Users can join a distributed cluster by sharing a URL with the same hashtag and enabling distribution via a checkbox below the terminal.
- •The demo uses gen_tcp_dist, which sends data in plain text, and advises use only on trusted networks between controlled nodes.
- •Networking relies on a WSS relay service (relay.widgetry.org) that users likely do not control, increasing security risk.
- •A warning quotes an Erlang Core Team member advising against running unencrypted and unauthenticated Erlang distribution over the internet.
- •Crazierl runs in the browser on an emulated x86 PC via v86, with xterm.js providing the terminal; users are advised not to enter sensitive information and note a California compliance disclaimer.