Quoting Wired Blog
What if you took the promise of Sun’s Java programming language, “write once, run anywhere,” and actually made it work? A new open source virtual machine by the name of Lina is hoping to do just that, and, judging by the video demo, Lina is off to a strong start.
The Lina virtual Linux machine will run more or less normal Linux applications under Windows, Mac, or Linux, using the native look and feel of each system.
As with Java, Lina users first install the VM specific to their platform. Once Lina is installed applications can be run using binaries compiled not for the particular OS, but for the Lina VM, which maps the OS level functions to the system functions of the OS in question (video after the jump).
Lina’s larger goal is to bring the vast world of open source applications to the masses via the VM.
However, your mom probably isn’t going to be able to use Lina any time soon. Although the installation of the Lina VM is a drag and drop simple process, firing up the actual applications still requires a trip to the command line.
Look for LINA’s public release in June, under the GNU General Public License, (v2) for open source developers who will be able to use Lina for free.
Commercial developers will pay an as-yet undetermined licensing fee and will be bound by the Lina commercial license.
According to the Lina site, the whole Lina VM weighs at about 40MB after installation, but the Lina team believes they can bring that down somewhat in the future.
Will Lina solve the holy grail of application developers? Is it possible to create a VM that allows for the Linux platform to be the true, write once run anywhere solution that developers have long sought?
It’s too early to tell, but personally I’d be happy if Lina could enable me to run Amarok on OS X, and yes, it would be nice to run Photoshop on Linux, but that’s probably still a pipe dream.
Read or comment on the original, here.
For more information or videos of the product, go here.