A developer’s guide to Linux emulators and how they operate

Feel like getting ‘extra geeky’? Well then this guide on writing emulator-friendly Linux code ought to meet your geek urges with the quickness. The article starts out simple enough, but soon works into more technical stuff later on.

Definitely a great primer though if you are interested in the inner workings of emulator basics.

For years, computers have been emulating other computers. A common reason to emulate older computers is nostalgia, and indeed, many emulators can run a broad variety of video games with perfect fidelity. Another reason to emulate another computer is to access application software that exists only on a specific platform.

In general, application emulation targets platforms that possess the larger market shares. For instance, the WINE project attempts to provide a way to run Windows® binaries, because — let’s face it — there are many more cool applications for Windows than there are for Linux (although, as they point out, WINE Is Not an Emulator).

However, in recent years Linux has proven to be a stable and versatile operating system; consequently, its market share has grown. And along with the growth of market share has come a spike in interest in emulating Linux. This article reviews the current state of Linux binary emulation on other systems and highlights some of the issues that Linux developers should keep in mind to make life easier for the people running their binaries in emulation.