Introduction to Unikernel: Building, deploying lightweight, secure applications
8 comments
·August 1, 2025wiradikusuma
Wake me up when you can unikernel-ize a Java framework like Quarkus or Spring.
rwmj
Running Java applications was the original mission of OSv (https://osv.io/). Reading the website now they seem to have pivoted to running unmodified Linux applications.
eyberg
The rabbit hole goes even deeper. Georgios was thinking about this with Jikes even earlier: https://gousios.org/pub/gousios-mscthesis.pdf
wiradikusuma
Does it mean it can run Java compiled to Native Image?
eyberg
It doesn't necessarily mean that but yes you most definitely can run native images - another example showing that: https://github.com/nanovms/ops-examples/tree/master/java/07-... . Both of these pair very well with unikernels. Especially quarkus has excellent boot time and low mem usage.
DmitryOlshansky
Why not full VM with JIT? Seems much easier and more compatible with apps out there.
Unikernels are quite an intriguing concept. They'll be re-discovered every five years, like programmers keep re-discovering functional programming.