[1] For whoever doubts that a proper Linux distro can be created through pure Javascript running in a browser, you obviously haven't tried out https://linuxontheweb.github.io/ yet!
Your project is essentially an incomplete implementation of a shell where all commands are builtins, and the interactivity is limited by what you directly programmed in JavaScript.
What you are trying to make is a lot harder than you think, you first need to emulate a CPU and go from there, not read whatever user types and try to behave like a Linux system, which ChatGPT can do already.
What shell it is using? It doesn't seem POSIXy (eg I can't `echo $$` to see the shell pid), and the filesystem is pretty bare
I've previously tried to implement all of those sorts of POSIX-isms, but I've recently been wanting to make the tradeoff where code simplicity and understandability trumps all other considerations. Then, when others start coming on board the project, we can start making determinations about what kinds of "proper" shell functions to support.
So, at this point, "bare yet dependable" is what I'm going for! You can actually get more feedback about the filesystem through the desktop interface. You can show an icon cursor by pressing the 'c' key, and then move it over a file icon. Then, just press the 'p' key to show the properties of the file.
Help page here: https://linuxontheweb.github.io/www/docs/help.html
One guy even made a RISC-V emulator inside VRChat using a shader[1]. Doing it in JavaScript will probably be easier, and I wouldn't be surprised if someone has done that already.
Until you emulate a CPU architecture and boot an actual Linux kernel, it isn't quite fair IMO to call it "Linux".
Your project has none of the capabilities that are very much expected when someone mentions "Linux", even in a broader sense.
In fact, I'm pretty sure your shell doesn't have some most basic abilities that a POSIX shell has (as another comment mentioned). See the manual page of e.g. dash shell and see what I'm talking about.
Emulating a shell can be fun, but it's clearly not the same as running an operating system. You should probably clarify that in the project README to avoid misinformation. Because otherwise, your project claims to be what it's obviously not.
I would tend to look at this project as an implementation rather than an emulation.
The current implementation of the shell is certainly in a highly bare bones state, but that can definitely change over time if that is in fact where the development process leads. If it gets to the point of being able to quack like a POSIX shell, then who's to say that it isn't really one?
If you implement most of it then you would be able to call your project a POSIX shell.
[1] https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/V...
[2] https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/idx/utiliti...
And yours contains neither GNU nor Linux, or as I’ve taken to calling it -(GNU+Linux).
It would be one thing if you had implemented a binary compatibility layer similar to WSL1, but what you’ve created seems to be a POSIX-like environment on the web.
I don’t know what the Linux philosophy is. I think it is the kernel of choice for GNU based systems because it existed and was open enough to use, while Hurd was more philosophical (to the point where, when it was needed, it existed more as an idea than a thing).
Linux is where it is because they make pragmatic decisions when when necessary.
Cool stuff