Linux on Android

Krik@feddit.de to Linux@lemmy.ml – 36 points –

I'm currently messing around with Termux and trying to install Linux through AnLinux, Andronix and UserLAnd just for fun.

I have mixed success in AnLinux. I successfully installed and started Lubuntu but it was running pretty slowly. I wasn't able to replicate the install a while later. Also I totally failed to get ArchLinux running.

Now I'm trying Andronix. Wish me luck!

Do you have any experience running a Linux on your mobile?

36

I running GNU/Linux on my Phone natively. And I use Waydroid layer to run Android apps. So I kinda doing the opposite 😄

On which phone? How's the camera? What about banking apps ?

I have the same question about banking 2fa question too. It’s my main concern with Linux phones atm

Banking apps work through Waydroid for me.

It's PinePhone Pro. Camera works badly, but at the time of purchase, it did not work, so we are slowly getting there. Banking apps work through Waydroid.

It's not practical to use GNU/Linux on the phone, but fun 🙂

I always wandered what the battery life would be like on these devices

The battery life is awful. But I bought the official clamshell keyboard for it that replaces the back cover and expands the battery capacity. With this accessory the battery life is good.

I used to have various Linux setups on my Android phones. I experimented with different chroot setups and applications, settled on just generating my own chroot using debootstrap and mounting it with a script in the Terminal app. XServer XSDL for GUI. It worked, but it wasn't amazing.

These days I switched to proper Linux phone. Typing this on my PinePhonePro keyboard using postmarketOS. If you really want the best pocketable Linux experience you can get, this is by far the best. Might not be the best if you depend on Android apps, but my Android use case was mostly just browser and a few unimportant apps that have Linux alternatives.

Termux by itself can be a good linux shell standin if you're used to working from a command line. I like using it for vim or emacs-nox more than I like any android text editor apps that I've tried. Plus, Midnight Commander is a top notch file manager.

You can also use termux with a graphical interface.

https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Graphical_Environment

Neat! That could be very useful for everything that works well within the limitations of vnc.

Edit: I've tried this out! I loosely followed the guide on a Kindle Fire and I'm much more impressed with the results than I thought I would be. No Libreoffice in the default repository, but I'm impressed with the responsiveness while running Abiword in XFCE4. Initial impression is that the app selection is hit or miss relative to running full-bore linux on a desktop computer, but I'm still experimenting. Firefox installs and I was surprised to see that youtube videos were playable to an extent. Much less laggy than trying to run vnc between two separate devices. I'll probably keep this setup if for no other reason than to have a desktop version of firefox on my tablet.

You can also install a distro using proot-distro and connect to it with vnc. https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/PRoot

I'm trying Debian right now and it seems to work fine.

Cc @RassilonianLegate@mstdn.social

Getting the proot distro to output an x11 display to the vnc server seems to be a bit more challenging that I was hoping. If I can find a guide that helps me figure this out, I'll post a link here.

I have Debian working. When I just installed xfce4 it didn't work. Some error about not contacting settings server. But I tried installing xfce4 with tasksel (also selected graphic environment) and then had no problem at all. I've not tried wit other desktops. Also tried with Ubuntu and it worked just installing xfce4 without using tasksel.

I changed the version to Debian Sid and I've had no problems yet. I'll update if things change.

Interesting. I'll give arch a try when I get a chance for a second data point.

Edit: Okay, wow! This is definitely the route to take if you want a wide range of programs available for installation. I'm trying this out on another android tablet that I have around the house and it looks like I could potentially replicate my desktop setup. With something like this available, I can see why the Termux developers would keep their x11 repository trimmed down.

I used to do it on my tablet for a while trying to mess with building on Linux ARM, but it was never more than just playing around.

Do you have something to link about? I want to know more

Just click on the app names in my post.

Androinix is the most stable one, until you try to update anything or do anything related to permissions

I'm still running Xubuntu through LinuxDeploy. Have been doing that for years, and didn't want to change the app, so I hacked it a little to work fine with newer Ubuntu versions. It's going really good.

LinuxDeploy requires root and hasn't been updated in half a decade, but it's super stable and does everything I want. GUI runs through VNC, shell through Terminal Emulator. It's nice.

I have Ubuntu running on andronix on my infinix note 12 g96. Ot runs really well. I use it for Libre office and vscode to do homework. There a few things that don't work tho. The patched version of vscode that andronix offers is ancient, a lot of extensions don't work. Your also limited to apps that are compatible with arm, I haven't been able to get box64 working, might try qemu for that some day

Technically Android is already Linux. Linux is the kernel only. (queue stallman gnu meme here)

But I never had a great experience with termux. :(

Android uses Linux.

Before downvoting me consider that it’s factually true.

Technically true, yes. Useful for the question being asked? Not so much.

I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're refering to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called Linux, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.

There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called Linux distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux!

Yes, it uses the Linux kernel, but usually when people are talking about running Linux on their mobile they're talking about running GNU/Linux, which is way more free (as in freedom) than any android garbage is. For example it is impossible for me to run arbitrary POSIX compliant shell scripts on an android phone.

Something something interject, something something modified GNU, something something Linux kernel