Test Linux quickly in the browser: This is possible with the new service DistroSea, which starts the distributions via a virtual machine (VM) in a tab in the web browser.
Large and small distributions represented
A total of 39 Linux distributions are currently available. In addition to top dogs such as Ubuntu, Debian, OpenSuse and Fedora, the veteran Slackware, the security distribution Kali and the RHEL clone AlmaLinux are also included. Users access the distributions via the fairly tidy user interface of the DistroSea website in the browser.
After the subsequent selection of the version, a Cloudflare check and waiting for the queue, if there is one, a VM with the desired distribution starts in the browser window. In the test run, this worked without any problems, albeit with a noticeable latency. The VMs close themselves after the tab is closed or after a certain period of inactivity.
DistroSea is a one-man project – accordingly, the technical resources in the background are currently still limited. As the developer under the username u/basilky on Reddit, the only server so far is in India. But he wants to book additional capacities in Europe and the USA. At the same time, he has so far financed the service entirely himself and is therefore asking for donations. He sees his project as the successor to DistroTest, a service with a similar function that has been discontinued. In the future he also wants to add further distributions. basilky obtains the ISO files via the quickget script of the quickemu project.
(jvo)
