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Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app

termux.dev

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Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app

#91

Post by knaik94 »

routerl wrote: post #15
knaik94 wrote: post #9

Termux singlehandedly makes me feel like I'm living my childhood dream of having a full computer in my pocket. I use git to blog from my phone, I have ffmpeg and yt-dlp installed to download videos for when I am going to be away from internet access for a while, and I even have some home automation scripts setup that control the lights over the local network. But I am concerned about the direction Android is headed,…

> But I am concerned about the direction Android is headed I'm with you, but we'll always have AOSP. And the cellphone market is now segmented enough that we'll probably also always have rootable phones.

One of the most unfortunate things in the US is locked bootloaders. AT&T has even started whitelisting phones for Wifi Calling and VoLTE. And with 3g shutting down, it means international phone variants won't work at all on the network, regardless of the underlying band support. Many companies, including Samsung don't allow you to unlock your bootloader to root your phone even if you bought it outright. I found that midrange phones are now the best option if you want things like AOSP. The only true flagship left, that I know of, with a headphone jack and sd card and good rooting support is the Sony Xperia phones.

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app

#92

Post by fsflover »

knaik94 wrote: post #9

Termux singlehandedly makes me feel like I'm living my childhood dream of having a full computer in my pocket. I use git to blog from my phone, I have ffmpeg and yt-dlp installed to download videos for when I am going to be away from internet access for a while, and I even have some home automation scripts setup that control the lights over the local network. But I am concerned about the direction Android is headed,…

> feel like I'm living my childhood dream of having a full computer in my pocket

While Android can provide such feel, GNU/Linux smartphones (Librem 5 and Pinephone) are such computers. And they do not depend on Google in any way. (I'm a happy owner of both.)

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app

#93

Post by knaik94 »

devmunchies wrote: post #89

I don't use android, but why not just install a custom android ROM (with root privileges)? Is it a hardware driver issue? Is it too much work to keep an android distribution up to date? ...like, does Samsung do any work to make sure it's difficult to use anything other than their pre-installed android?

Not all phones allow you to root, even if you paid outright for the device. Termux is different from a custom ROM, Termux gives you things like native nodejs, python, ffmpeg, git, and nmap. It's independent from the underlying OS. All phone come with a bootloader lock and only some companies allow you to unlock it. You need to do a bootloader and oem unlock in order to have the ability to root. Certain devices have sensors/parts that aren't supported via AOSP, back in the day I remember reading "not working: wifi" in the feature list for custom roms. I think wifi is usually okay now, but camera and cellular modem are still not guaranteed.

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app

#94

Post by Zak »

skrowl wrote: post #67
Zak wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google does, in fact publish apps that require root access in the play store. Titanium Backup is a popular example (though I'd recommend the open source Neo Backup instead). They presumably don't publish apps that use exploits to help the user gain root without unlocking the bootloader and wiping the data partition.

There are many file explorer apps ( MiXplorer is my favorite https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mixplorer.... ) on Google Play that have optional root access as well. You can use it w/o root, but if you have root it prompts for elevation and then lets you use it.

I also use MiXplorer, and wouldn't be able to read my camera's SD cards on my phone without it because Android doesn't support exfat for some reason. Root is required for it to use its own filesystem drivers of course.

I don't think I knew it was on the Play store. It's a free download from the website, but paid on the Play store. I'd like to make a donation without giving Google a cut - the author deserves to get paid.

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app

#95

Post by lugu »

freedomben wrote: post #52
idatum wrote: post #22

The combination of termux and scrcpy is pretty cool. Scrcpy is currently being discussed as well: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35749366 I have one of those Bluetooth keyboards and mice that allow multiple paired devices. There's a button on each to allow you to switch. That's pretty handy to have it paired with my old Android device and be able to pop over and use my tmux sessions.

Oh dude! That's such a great idea. So great that (like most great ideas) it's extremely obvious in hindsight and I feel silly for not having considered it :-D

Humm, I am not getting it. Can you detail the setup you envision? Thanks!

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app

#96

Post by knaik94 »

fsflover wrote: post #92
knaik94 wrote: post #9

Termux singlehandedly makes me feel like I'm living my childhood dream of having a full computer in my pocket. I use git to blog from my phone, I have ffmpeg and yt-dlp installed to download videos for when I am going to be away from internet access for a while, and I even have some home automation scripts setup that control the lights over the local network. But I am concerned about the direction Android is headed,…

> feel like I'm living my childhood dream of having a full computer in my pocket While Android can provide such feel, GNU/Linux smartphones (Librem 5 and Pinephone) are such computers. And they do not depend on Google in any way. (I'm a happy owner of both.)

I understand the sentiment, but I disagree. From the last time I checked, the big compromise with GNU/Linux phones is still the lack of social media and messaging apps and appstore ecosystem. Android, with root, is every bit as much a computer as a Pinephone and Librem 5, but the opposite isn't true. Termux has PRoot, a user-space implementation of chroot allowing a full distro install. I personally don't have any problem depending on Google, I have a problem with things being locked away with no alternative. Given the option, I will happily accept the risks and void my warray to root.

https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/PRoot

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app

#97

Post by pxc »

Chris660 wrote: post #84
hungryforcodes wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is quite a difference in size there! Find me a 7 inch laptop with phone battery life and pocket availabilty.

As an ex Psion 5 user, I've often been tempted by the devices from Planet Computers: https://store.planetcom.co.uk/products/gemini-pda-1

The keyboards on them are excellent, but the software/firmware stories for their devices are awful. Frozen kernels due to proprietary blobs, and support for running full Linux distros is limited and lags by months to years. And they're expensive as hell.

But they keyboards are good enough that I'd still kinda like to try the Astro Slide 5G. I just don't want to order one only to wait years for it to arrive.

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app

#98

Post by noman-land »

knaik94 wrote: post #9

Termux singlehandedly makes me feel like I'm living my childhood dream of having a full computer in my pocket. I use git to blog from my phone, I have ffmpeg and yt-dlp installed to download videos for when I am going to be away from internet access for a while, and I even have some home automation scripts setup that control the lights over the local network. But I am concerned about the direction Android is headed,…

You should check out GrapheneOS as an alternative to regular Android.

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app

#99

Post by VikingCoder »

Termux sent me down a rabbit hole of trying to figure out the cheapest computer that I could legitimately recommend to someone as a learning computer.

I found $18 Android phones on clearance at Walmart, like the TracFone - Alcatel One Touch Pixi Unite with 8GB Memory Prepaid Cell Phone - Black. I mean, look at the specs:

* 1500 mAh Battery, 800x480 screen

* Quad-core 1.3GHz processor with 1GB of RAM

* Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS

* 3G data speed for fast Web browsing and multimedia downloads

* 3.97" TFT color display

* 2.0MP camera

* 8GB internal memory plus microSD slot

* Expand storage up to 32GB by adding a microSD card (sold separately).

I mean, compare it to a Mac Classic - with this little infographic I made: https://i.imgur.com/7UJjRuc.png

You just would never use the data plan. On wifi, it worked great. So, go to a Starbucks, McDonalds, or Library... And you're coding in basically a real Linux for $18. (!)

This thing was particularly impressive, at $56.20, the RCA Voyager Pro 7 16GB Tablet with Keyboard Case Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) in Charcoal (RCT6873W42KC M). https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M7TSY16

This $90 one seems like a reasonable alternative: RCA Atlas 10 Pro (RCT6B06P23H) 10 Inch Android 9 Tablet with Keyboard Black (Renewed). https://www.amazon.com/RCA-RCT6B06P23H-Android-Keyboard-Rene...

And then Chromebooks, of course. At the time I was loving my $169 Samsung Chromebook 3 with 4 GB of RAM from Best Buy. Termux runs great. Loved this machine - I used it all the time. I also played with GalliumOS, which requires "rooting" to Developer Mode. I have a Samsung 128GB USB Drive, and a 16 GB microSD card, and both seem to work. I use a mouse, sometimes. Android Apps were a little dodgy - the mouse turned into a black square, sometimes, for instance. And this was even before they offered a full Linux shell on Chrome! Now it's far easier, of course.

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app

#100

Post by fsflover »

knaik94 wrote: post #96
fsflover wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> feel like I'm living my childhood dream of having a full computer in my pocket While Android can provide such feel, GNU/Linux smartphones (Librem 5 and Pinephone) are such computers. And they do not depend on Google in any way. (I'm a happy owner of both.)

I understand the sentiment, but I disagree. From the last time I checked, the big compromise with GNU/Linux phones is still the lack of social media and messaging apps and appstore ecosystem. Android, with root, is every bit as much a computer as a Pinephone and Librem 5, but the opposite isn't true. Termux has PRoot, a user-space implementation of chroot allowing a full distro install. I personally don't have any pr…

> Android, with root, is every bit as much a computer

Can you install a completely different OS on your Android phone? AFAIK no, whereas on Pinephone you can choose among 15+ systems and on Librem 5 currently among 4 or more. What about installing a mainline kernel?

> lack of social media and messaging apps

You can use Waydroid for Android apps, or install one of a few Matrix and Mastodon clients. Telegram works, too. Also, Flatpak apps work natively.

> I personally don't have any problem depending on Google, I have a problem with things being locked away with no alternative

To me these sound like the same problem. Google is restricting your freedom, not someone else.

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