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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

#51

Post by thesuperbigfrog »

dheera wrote: post #35
thesuperbigfrog wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 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. As much as I like the idea of 100% FOSS in my pocket, it's simply not practical because I need to use Android apps to hail rides and contact friends who often use only c…

>> it's simply not practical because I need to use Android apps to hail rides and contact friends who often use only closed-source messenger apps.

That is currently where I am as well.

Termux has been a wonderful way to get simple programming tasks done on the go because I can just plug in an external keyboard, mouse, and monitor and have a command line, text editors, compilers, etc.

I am concerned about how Android 10's limitations will impact Termux since I would hate to lose such a useful tool.

Seeing what GNU/Linux phones are out there at least provides some other options about where I might want to go next once my current phone ages out.

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

#52

Post by Spica »

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 learnt python and did coding on phone(too broke to buy pc) so I used it for running python projects, using git and deploying the projects on heroku with the CLI.

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

#53

Post by encom »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #42
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.

Maximum snark: That covers most Android devices, then.

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

#54

Post by heavyset_go »

rektide wrote: post #37
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...

Comments like this one[1] that mention having difficulty using Termux to access SD cards keep making me feel like we are radically over-securing devices. More and more it feels like the OS, the browser, are guarding the user not against bad apps, but also against the user. Firefox Mobile only allowing less than a dozen extensions. Chrome mobile supporting no extensions. These are different than the OS, but the same k…

> More and more it feels like the OS, the browser, are guarding the user not against bad apps, but also against the user.

This is something Stallman and others have been talking about[1] for more than a decade now.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24881893

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

#55

Post by thesuperbigfrog »

fsflover wrote: post #29
thesuperbigfrog wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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/

Thank you for the recommendation.

I will definitely put it on my list of possible candidates for my next phone.

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

#57

Post by fencepost »

varispeed wrote: post #48
bosswipe wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 pu…

You may be better off with a VoIP service and a softphone client, though I don't think any are as smooth as the phone native performance

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

#58

Post by heavyset_go »

fsflover wrote: post #29
thesuperbigfrog wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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/

Does anyone have experience running Android apps in Anbox on this phone or the PinePhone?

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

#59

Post by [deleted] »

fsflover wrote: post #49
breakfastduck wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

[deleted]

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

#60

Post by breakfastduck »

fsflover wrote: post #49
breakfastduck wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Literally from your own quote...

>its CPU performance and its video processing capability are those of a low-spec phone from several years ago

That's enough for me to decide the experience isn't on par with a flagship Android or iPhone - but that's not what it's trying to be.

This isn't trying to be a phone - it's trying to be a mobile linux PC that you can also use as a phone and has the same form factor.

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