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Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app with no rooting

termux.com

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Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app with no rooting

#21

what do people use this for? While I was really excited when i encountered it, I didn't find any practical uses.

Troubleshooting services and bypassing Google's help.

Scenario 1: You're in the middle of your data center. Internal tools/tests say that $service is running correctly, but external customers says it isn't working, and firewall won't let you use an external IP without having to run 3 floors away on the other side of the building.

Solution 1: Open termux, and running telnet aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd $PORT and test

Quicker then waiting for a co-worker to get back to you on Slack.

Scenario 2: You are setting up a new VPN server and want to confirm that your outgoing connections are being routed through the correct IPs/Gateways.

Solution 2: Open termux and run tracert and see where you are being routed.

and many more....... I used to own a Nokia N900. Having a Linux CLI that works in portable device (wifi + cellular) is so damn handy. I use it atleast 2 times a week. It's a perfect diagnosing tool for OOB troubleshooting.

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app with no rooting

#22

what do people use this for? While I was really excited when i encountered it, I didn't find any practical uses.

Routing a development server to the phone's localhost so I can use https-only features like service workers and camera access without setting up https.

ssh -L 8080:172.383.20.18:8080

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app with no rooting

#23

It's much more convenient to use a native terminal on a GNU/Linux phone. Everything you would do on a desktop, you can do with it.

Out of curiosity, what GNU/Linux phone would you recommend?

Most of the ones I have read about are still fairly alpha-level products, particularly for the phone software and app ecosystem.

I would love to have a fully-functional phone running GNU/Linux that I can use as a phone and carry around in my pocket and then plug in a keyboard, mouse, and monitor and have a "good enough" computer for basic office and programming capabilities.

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app with no rooting

#24

It's much more convenient to use a native terminal on a GNU/Linux phone. Everything you would do on a desktop, you can do with it.

On the other hand, every other non-terminal task would be far less convenient. And maybe even impossible, given that some tasks require apps that are only available on Android or iOS.

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app with no rooting

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The key caveat being that iSH does x86 emulation to achieve this, but otherwise it seems to looks pretty darn nice. I have yet to try it but now that I've switched over to iOS I may just download it to compare usage vs Termux.

It is great but slow and 32bit.

It’s not that slow...

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app with no rooting

#26

what do people use this for? While I was really excited when i encountered it, I didn't find any practical uses.

I use it for emacs, mostly org mode on my phone. It works reasonably well with a small bluetooth keyboard.

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app with no rooting

#27
Termux has recently run into issues with Android 10 and the more recent APIs, which break its form of package management.

Their workaround is fairly clever (although not yet implemented) but means that updates to the Play Store version have been temporarily put on hold.

https://github.com/termux/termux-packages/wiki/Termux-and-An...

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app with no rooting

#28

It's much more convenient to use a native terminal on a GNU/Linux phone. Everything you would do on a desktop, you can do with it.

On the other hand, every other non-terminal task would be far less convenient. And maybe even impossible, given that some tasks require apps that are only available on Android or iOS.

It's not a necessity that non-terminal tasks are less convenient. It depends on the GUI and definitely can be done well. For Android-only apps, there is anbox.

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app with no rooting

#29

It's much more convenient to use a native terminal on a GNU/Linux phone. Everything you would do on a desktop, you can do with it.

Out of curiosity, what GNU/Linux phone would you recommend? Most of the ones I have read about are still fairly alpha-level products, particularly for the phone software and app ecosystem. I would love to have a fully-functional phone running GNU/Linux that I can use as a phone and carry around in my pocket and then plug in a keyboard, mouse, and monitor and have a "good enough" computer for basic office and programm…

I recommend Librem 5: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5. The company develops both hardware and software respecting the users.

Upd: Video showing Librem 5 used as desktop: https://puri.sm/posts/a-librem-5-video-made-on-a-librem-5/

Re: Termux is an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app with no rooting

#30

It's much more convenient to use a native terminal on a GNU/Linux phone. Everything you would do on a desktop, you can do with it.

Out of curiosity, what GNU/Linux phone would you recommend? Most of the ones I have read about are still fairly alpha-level products, particularly for the phone software and app ecosystem. I would love to have a fully-functional phone running GNU/Linux that I can use as a phone and carry around in my pocket and then plug in a keyboard, mouse, and monitor and have a "good enough" computer for basic office and programm…

I have seen some happy & successful users of the PinePhone[1] on my social network feeds. The price is great, capabilities are all there & supported, the community has been doing a good job scratching-their-own-itches & furthering support. The only thing that's held me back from fully adopting it is that the main camera is 5MP, and I have been feeling a little short with even the 12MP camera on my Samsung S series daily driver.

[1] https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/

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