Tiny Linux

Running a regular Linux distribution on an Android device is not a new idea, and several apps in the Google Play Store will let you deploy a full-blown distribution on an Android smartphone or tablet. If your device is powerful enough and storage space is not an issue, there's nothing wrong with this approach. In most cases, however, having a full-size Linux distribution crammed into an Android machine is overkill.

Enter Termux [1], an app that provides an alternative way to use popular Linux tools on an Android device. Combining a terminal emulator and a lightweight Linux environment in one tiny 157K app (Figure 1), Termux puts a wide range of Linux tools at your fingertips: from Bash, Emacs, and Git to cURL, rsync, and OpenSSH. The app requires no root privileges, and the dedicated Termux:API add-on gives you access to Android's APIs, so you control your Android device from the command line and shell scripts.

First Steps

Termux is available on Google Play Store and F-Droid [2], so you can install it from your preferred source. The app's default functionality can be extended by installing add-ons. The Termux:API add-on, for example, adds support for Android API, whereas the Termux:Styling package lets you pick an alternative color scheme and font. The Termux:Widget add-on gives you a home screen widget containing shortcuts to shell scripts, so you can run scripts in Termux with a single tap. You can install these add-ons for free from F-Droid. If you choose to install the add-ons from Google Play Store, you have to purchase them. Think of it as a way to donate to the project and support its developer.

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