Who made jsbeeb, and can I run my own copy?

Updated

jsbeeb was written by Matt Godbolt, and yes — you can run your own copy. The source is published on GitHub, so you can host it yourself or modify it. It is built on Sarah Walker's open-source b-em emulator, with additional contributions from other developers.

Who built it

The About panel inside jsbeeb credits the project as follows:

Contributor Role
Matt Godbolt Author of jsbeeb
Sarah Walker Author of b-em, the emulator jsbeeb is based on (open sourced)
Richard Talbot-Watkins Help and support
Andrew Hague Acorn Atom emulation
Visual 6502 project Reference for cycle-accurate emulation

The cycle-accurate emulation draws heavily on the Visual 6502 project, which the About text notes is "well worth a donation." The default disc loaded when you open jsbeeb is Elite, made available by Ian Bell.

Can you run your own copy?

Yes. The About panel states directly: "Would you rather run your own copy? The source is on GitHub." That means self-hosting is an intended option, not a workaround.

Practical implications:

  • Self-hosting is possible — the source is available, so you can serve it from your own machine or bucket.
  • Modification is possible — because the source is open, you can change behaviour rather than only configure it.
  • The hosted version is static — jsbeeb describes itself as "a static page served from an AWS bucket," with no server logs and nothing kept on the jsbeeb servers. Running your own copy therefore doesn't require replicating a backend.

Where to go for more

  • Source code: linked from the About panel as "Source on GitHub."
  • Community and BBC Micro discussion: the StarDot forums, recommended in the About text for "more on the BBC, and people to talk to about it."
  • Browser note: jsbeeb states it "works best in Chrome or Firefox."

What this means for you

If you only want to use the emulator, the hosted version at bbc.xania.org is enough — no account or setup is required to start. If you want to inspect, fork, or host the emulator yourself, the GitHub source is the entry point, and the b-em lineage plus the Visual 6502 reference explain why the emulation is cycle-accurate rather than approximate.