Ross ROSS = Recommend OSS · open-source software intelligence for agents

jart/blink

tiniest x86-64-linux emulator observed · 2026-08-28

github.com/jart/blink · C · ISC (permissive) observed · 2026-08-28

Health v2 · maintenance only

48/100

  • Activity 56
  • Release rhythm 8
  • Longevity 99
How is this computed?

round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.

  • gap_med: n/a
  • age_days: 1399
  • days_rel: n/a
  • days_push: 266
  • n_releases_24m: 0

Full methodology

Adoption not part of the score

7575 stars · 276 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded

Blink is a tiny x86-64 Linux user-mode emulator written in C that runs x86-64-linux binaries on other operating systems and architectures, as a lightweight alternative to qemu-x86_64. It also ships with a terminal UI debugger, blinkenlights, that visualizes program execution and supports reverse debugging.

Use cases

  • run x86-64 linux binaries on mac or arm
  • lightweight alternative to qemu-x86_64
  • emulate linux elf binaries cross-platform
  • visually debug assembly with a terminal ui
  • reverse debug program execution
  • run ephemeral programs like compilers faster than qemu

When to choose

  • you need a small, fast user-mode x86-64 emulator on POSIX systems
  • you want to run Linux binaries on macOS, BSD, or non-x86-64 hardware
  • you want a visual TUI debugger with reverse execution

When to avoid

  • you need full system emulation or non-x86-64 guest architectures
  • you need Windows-native support outside Cygwin
  • you require perfect fidelity for obscure x86-64 instructions or kernel features

Facets

application · maturity active

simulation developer-tools cli terminal-ui developer-tools operating-systems cross-platform bsd cli cross-platform x86-64-emulator user-mode-emulation qemu-alternative reverse-debugging virtual-machine command-line linux macos

1 source

Member repositories

RepositoryRoleHealth v2
jart/blinkmain48

For agents

markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="jart/blink")

Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem