Linuxulator on FreeBSD Feels Like Magic

4 hours ago

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is the preferred editor despite not being lightweight, offering a balance between features, extensions, and performance.
Running VS Code on FreeBSD is possible with the open-source build, but ARM64 support is a limitation for the author.
The author prefers ARM64 machines, like Apple’s M1/M2 Macs, for better performance and battery life, but lacks FreeBSD-supported ARM64 laptops.
Remote development over NFS or SSHFS is problematic, causing delays and permission issues, especially with large projects.
VS Code’s Remote SSH extension works surprisingly well on OpenWRT and, with some setup, on FreeBSD using Linuxulator.
A GitHub repository (morganwdavis/vscode-server-freebsd) provides a simple setup for VS Code Remote SSH on FreeBSD.
The setup involves enabling Linuxulator, installing a Linux base system, and configuring environment paths and SSH settings.
Most extensions work flawlessly on FreeBSD via Linuxulator, with only minor issues like Rollup requiring a WASM build override.
The author is impressed by the stability and performance of this setup, which significantly improves their workflow on FreeBSD.

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