does anybody else use virtual machines?

[jasperad]

i could consider myself a vm enthusiast. i regularly make them out of hobby and because i love the process of creating a computer within my computer, and one of my dream jobs is to become a sysadmin (i plan on majoring in info tech)! i just want to know if anybody else in the 32 bit cafe does this.

[starbreaker]

I’ve tinkered with virtual machines from time to time, but mainly before I got into Emacs. Then again, people say Emacs is more of an operating system than a text editor, so maybe it’s a virtual Lisp machine?

[jasperad]

that’s interesting. i think i’ve heard of lisp and emacs but i didn’t look much into it until you mentioned them. it’s quite the fascinating read, i’ve learned of unix and linux in school, but i haven’t really taken a deep dive like this. i’d love to virtualize linux one day once i get enough experience. thanks!

[yequari]

I use virtual machines on a daily basis.

• At work, all of our servers are Windows VMs on a few really beefy server machines. This lets us isolate software to specific machine and control what software can reach each other over the network.
• At home, I have a Windows VM for running iTunes so I can sync to my iPods.
• My website is hosted on a DigitalOcean Droplet, which is a small VM somewhere in their data center.
• Sometimes I want to mess around with a different niche OS like Haiku or ReactOS so I spin up a QEMU VM
• When I write code in C# or JavaScript (among other languages), it runs in a VM, though this is a different kind of VM (called a process VM) than the system VMs mentioned above.

I find VMs really interesting, especially process VMs. The idea that you can program a new type of computer inside your computer and write code that compiles into that is really cool.

[Melvian]

I occasionally use system VMs to have a look at older or more obscure operating systems. But I particularly have a heavy interest in process VMs, especially as a solution for helping build sustainable and extremely portable software (been working on a prototype for a VM of my own design, which will host my art programs in the future).

[nosycat]

I keep a Qemu VM with AntiX Linux around to build and test 32-bit binaries. Used to play with it a lot more back when trying out new operating systems or distributions felt fun.

[yequari]

Writing a VM is something I’ve been wanting to do for a bit, I just need to find the time to sit down and do it. I did technically write one while working through Crafting Interpreters but I want to design one myself. I find uxn really inspiring.

[Melvian]

@yequari

I find uxn really inspiring.

Same!! I have been extremely inspired by it for the past few years, and my VM is inspired by what uxn aimed to accomplish, but works very different, in a way that more properly balances simplicity, performance, and the ability to dynamically change programs on-the-fly.

[Nanoroar]

If you’ve never done it with Linux, then I’m very excited for you. So many fun things you can do there but even just these two would keep you busy for a lifetime:

• Spin up a VM for each type of Linux you liked the sound of (there’s hundreds to try)
• Spin up a VM where each one is the same type of Linux but set up and themed to look like a completely different game / anime / TV show / anything

[jasperad]

i’ll definitely try that! thank you so much for the recommendations for getting into linux!

[candycanearter07]

I’ve messed with VM’s occasionally to experiment with things.

[goodboyjojo]

i mainly use vms to mess around with linux distros im interested in. also, i play around with kali linux and vulnerable vms to practice pentesting.

[arevakhach]

This other thread may also be of interest to you:

The Best VPS Tutorials I've Ever Used

First and foremost let me say that I am not good around a terminal. The format leaves me feeling very lost and confused, everything is floaty and impossible to keep in place, it’s easy to loose track of information and I have an extremely difficult time with regard to remembering sequences of letters and numbers so using a terminal hits all my language deficit issues. So, in order for me to be able to manage my VPS at all, clear language and Exact Step By Step instructions with the EXACT syntax…

[m1k3]

That’s great! How many do you currently have and what’s your process like? I don’t have a lot but will usually fire up a KVM in QEMU as needed to test a Linux distro or run a BSD (OpenBSD, NetBSD, FreeBSD) server for fun.

[flora-the-alien-500]

I sometimes do.

I have a Mac OS 9 VM set up. Only really use it for reference materials at the moment, idk what kind of stuff I’d do with it aside from that & maybe playing old games on there. So I haven’t done much with it. Wish I could do more with it, but honestly idk what lol.

There’s also a Linux Mint XFCE VM I set up to.

Moved that to another drive though. This one I was more involved with, messing with to see if I could tweak it the way I want to. Initially was set up to help me figure out if I wanted linux on another computer I planned to buy, but that plan fell through when the computer I was eyeing ended up having a ton of bad reviews. So bought a tablet instead. That VM sat in the dust for a while until I finally moved it.

[hmm]

I use Windows Subsystem for Linux all the time on my work computer. And I use a Windows VM on my home computer (which runs linux) for the like, one program I need that only runs on Windows.

WSL is a pleasant experience, it’s like having an app installed on Windows called “actual computer” that lets you do actual computer things instead of just view pop-up adds for microsoft products.

The Windows VM I run under QEMU/KVM is… fine. It makes Windows more bearable knowing that I can shut the whole thing down and still have my linux desktop. I wish I could figure out how to make the VM automatically boot up, run updates, and shut back down once a week or whatever, because I spend most of my time just doing that.

[killerscreen]

Creating VMs is genuinely one of my favourite…I don’t know, hobbies? I’m not super well-versed or knowledgeable but I love to revisit old operating systems for their aesthetic value. They were also my first exposure to Linux.

[salieri]

i’ve messed with them! i took a reverse software engineering class last semester i found super fascinating, and obviously entailed setting up various virtual machines. my fav is the windows xp one had me feeling like a kid again.