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

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

#41

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

jhbadger wrote: post #24
fsflover wrote: post #19

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.

While this is strictly true, 1. it's reduced by Android compat via anbox, 2. some version of that is always true; Android users don't get iOS-exclusive apps, iPhone users don't get Android exclusives, and neither of them can get some desktop apps (although Android can do VNC with termux or a chroot to get very very close, and iOS does have iSH, bringing us back to "if the compatibility layer is good enough..."). The question is whether the apps that each users wants are sufficiently available on the platform of their choice. And true, sometimes the answer is no; just as some people are stuck on NT because WINE doesn't work and they need a Windows app, so some people will be stuck on Android/iOS, but by the same token some of us are doing just fine on FOSS platforms.

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

#42

Post by JoshTriplett »

squarefoot wrote: post #33

"This version requires Android 7.0 or newer." Termux is a great piece of software; I'd love if they would keep supporting older OS versions as well, since it's the kind of software one would keep on that old tablet to be used as a terminal or generally as a Swiss army knife.

I find things like termux most useful with network connectivity, and a device you can't update should never be connected to a network.

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

#43

Post by npsimons »

MarkusWandel wrote: post #13
sigmonsays wrote: post #2

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

Syncing photos off. Termux has sshd (you have to start it manually once, then it stays running until Termux is killed or the phone is rebooted). With ssh-copy-id it takes a single command (1-line script) to rsync the phone's DCIM directory to my main machine for further processing. Nothing needs to be done on the phone at all other than to lightly nudge it to wake it up so sshd sees the connection attempt. Downside:…

> Android security clampdowns mean termux can't see the SD card.

Not sure that's what's causing it; I can definitely scp files from my Android phone's SDCard to my servers. But I've not tried initiating the scp from the other machine to my phone.

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

#44

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

knaik94 wrote: post #14
sigmonsays wrote: post #2

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

This takes some setup, but you can add ffmpeg and python, and from there youtube-dl. There's a url handler so I can download podcasts and other things by using the built in android share function from page links. People also use it on chromebooks for dev work that doesn't require low level compiling. I have seen NPM and webdev work being done using termux and I have seen people use it for Jupyter Notebooks too. It al…

What setup? I thought it was just `pkg i ffmpeg python && pip install --user youtube-dl`?

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

#45

Post by fsflover »

sneak wrote: post #38
fsflover wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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/

I want one, but it says it doesn't ship for 6 months. I think it's important to stick to things that exist today. The Librem 5 is cool, but it's still vaporware. Hopefully that changes.

It technically should start shipping in November, but the preorder queue is so long that new orders have to wait for about 6 months.

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

#46

Post by michrassena »

sigmonsays wrote: post #2

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

I've found it useful to occasionally ssh into my raspberry pi. But I don't think I could use it as a serious work tool unless I had a Bluetooth keyboard connected to my phone.

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

#47

Post by cstross »

thesuperbigfrog wrote: post #23
fsflover wrote: post #19

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'd like to note that Termux is totally amazeballs on a Cosmo Communicator: https://www.www3.planetcom.co.uk/cosmo-communicator

Having a proper fold-out QWERTY hardware keyboard makes for an eccentric Android experience, but Termux (or, alternatively, their dual-boot Linux solution) makes a huge difference.

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

#48

Post by varispeed »

bosswipe wrote: post #39
j-james wrote: post #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...

I hate the direction Google is taking Android. They're on an appliance-ification quest trying to hide any exposed linux-ness of the OS, including trying to remove developer access to all file handles. They always claim it's in the name of security but my suspicion is that it's an effort to transition from Linux to Fuchsia.

For me so far the worst thing Google did was disabling API for call recording. That makes new phones pretty much useless for me. I always record calls, so that I can go back to them if I forget something or that nobody can claim they said something when they didn't (most recently insurance salesperson told me I will have option X if I take their insurance and they once I bought it, there was no such option. Once I pulled the "I have recorded your salesman lying to me", I got a prompt refund and apologies).

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

#49

Post by fsflover »

breakfastduck wrote: post #34
fsflover wrote: post #19

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.

But with a significantly reduced phone experience. I see the benefit, but the phone isn’t anywhere near the quality of a high end android or iOS device in terms of hardware or general app availability. Termux is clearly provide the opposite to what you’re suggesting - having a terminal available without sacrificing everything else.

> in terms of hardware

https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Freque...

Librem 5 has a number of features generally only found in high-end phones, such as USB 3, dual-role port, DisplayPort alt-mode, high resolution video out and a discrete audio DAC, but its CPU performance and its video processing capability are those of a low-spec phone from several years ago. For people who want to buy a phone that supports convergence or a specialized security/privacy phone, the price of the Librem 5 is very competitive with the other options on the market.

> general app availability

https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Freque...

There is are a huge number of existing desktop Linux applications that can be adapted [not rewritten!] to run inside Phosh.

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

#50

Post by donio »

sigmonsays wrote: post #2

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

- ssh (with a proper openssh config and various convenience wrappers around it)

- a local bookmark manager and search redirector that i wrote in Go (much easier to just run in termux than turning it into an Android app)

- sshd to allow adhoc file transfer and command execution over ssh, getting various information from the phone using the termux cli APIs

- random shell stuff although i tend to do most of that over the ssh connection.

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