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Show HN: Smol machines – subsecond coldstart, portable virtual machines

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Re: Show HN: Smol machines – subsecond coldstart, portable virtual machines

#111

Post by binsquare »

estetlinus wrote: post #103

Why would I prefer smol machines over docker sandbox? Do you have an elevator pitch?

uhh sort of different things.

smol machines is a virtual machine that has properties and ergonomics of containers. It's not an ai project, it's designed to run any software inside.

docker sandbox sounds like it's running ai stuff inside of a microvm.

So if you need to use a virtual machine - use smol machines.

If you need a to run coding agents, use smol machines still because agents are just software.

Re: Show HN: Smol machines – subsecond coldstart, portable virtual machines

#114

Post by todotask2 »

binsquare wrote: post #2

Hello, I'm building a replacement for docker containers with a virtual machine with the ergonomics of containers + subsecond start times. I worked in AWS previously in the container space + with firecracker. I realized the container is an unnecessary layer that slowed things down + firecracker was a technology designed for AWS org structure + usecase. So I ended up building a hybrid taking the best of containers with…

Just curious if this allow to sync file changes from host to vm which only Docker has that and no other VM alternative has that ability.

Re: Show HN: Smol machines – subsecond coldstart, portable virtual machines

#116

Post by estetlinus »

binsquare wrote: post #111
estetlinus wrote: post #103

Why would I prefer smol machines over docker sandbox? Do you have an elevator pitch?

uhh sort of different things. smol machines is a virtual machine that has properties and ergonomics of containers. It's not an ai project, it's designed to run any software inside. docker sandbox sounds like it's running ai stuff inside of a microvm. So if you need to use a virtual machine - use smol machines. If you need a to run coding agents, use smol machines still because agents are just software.

I think I see one new VM / sandbox thingie a week.

> If you need a to run coding agents, use smol machines still because agents are just software.

I get mixed signals from your argument

Re: Show HN: Smol machines – subsecond coldstart, portable virtual machines

#117

Post by prox »

onion2k wrote: post #100
anthk wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey 'software engineer', how much of the output of an LLM it's actually reproducible vs the one from a calculator or any programming language with the same input in different sessions?

Not really related to this 'discussion' but this is an interesting problem in the AI space. It's essentially a well understood problem in unreliable distributed systems - if you have a series of steps that might not respond with the same answer every time (because one might fail usually) then how do you get to a useful and reliable outcome? I've been experimenting with running a prompt multiple times and having an ag…

Don’t know if this is an annoying response… but how about just going through the code and check and grade the quality yourself?

Re: Show HN: Smol machines – subsecond coldstart, portable virtual machines

#118

Post by rickydroll »

binsquare wrote: post #2

Hello, I'm building a replacement for docker containers with a virtual machine with the ergonomics of containers + subsecond start times. I worked in AWS previously in the container space + with firecracker. I realized the container is an unnecessary layer that slowed things down + firecracker was a technology designed for AWS org structure + usecase. So I ended up building a hybrid taking the best of containers with…

How is this different from lxd/lxc? How tied is this to kvm or could it work with other hypervisors like xcp-ng, VMware, or virtual box?

Re: Show HN: Smol machines – subsecond coldstart, portable virtual machines

#119

Post by binsquare »

todotask2 wrote: post #114
binsquare wrote: post #2

Hello, I'm building a replacement for docker containers with a virtual machine with the ergonomics of containers + subsecond start times. I worked in AWS previously in the container space + with firecracker. I realized the container is an unnecessary layer that slowed things down + firecracker was a technology designed for AWS org structure + usecase. So I ended up building a hybrid taking the best of containers with…

Just curious if this allow to sync file changes from host to vm which only Docker has that and no other VM alternative has that ability.

it has directory mounts - so access the same files: https://github.com/smol-machines/smolvm/blob/main/AGENTS.md?...

It also has file copy from host to inside the guest: https://github.com/smol-machines/smolvm/blob/70c97930dda5a92...

Re: Show HN: Smol machines – subsecond coldstart, portable virtual machines

#120

Post by binsquare »

Palmik wrote: post #101

Could it be made even faster using some of the ideas from https://github.com/zerobootdev/zeroboot ?

Their idea is actually more akin to cloning and a more refined implementation is used in Lambda's snapstart: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/snapstart.html

So directionally yes. But it relies on kvm. I focus on portability i.e. cross platform for local macOS and linux, so that is not top of mind for me right now.

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