this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2024

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Google is preparing to let you run Linux apps on Android, just like Chrome OS (www.androidauthority.com)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Google is developing a Terminal app for Android that'll let you run Linux apps. It'll download and run Debian in a VM for you.

...

Engineers at Google started work on a new Terminal app for Android a couple of weeks ago. This Terminal app is part of the Android Virtualization Framework (AVF) and contains a WebView that connects to a Linux virtual machine via a local IP address, allowing you to run Linux commands from the Android host. Initially, you had to manually enable this Terminal app using a shell command and then configure the Linux VM yourself. However, in recent days, Google began work on integrating the Terminal app into Android as well as turning it into an all-in-one app for running a Linux distro in a VM.

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Google is still working on improving the Terminal app as well as AVF before shipping this feature. AVF already supports graphics and some input options, but it’s preparing to add support for backing up and restoring snapshots, nested virtualization, and devices with an x86_64 architecture. It’s also preparing to add some settings pages to the Terminal app, which is pretty barebones right now apart from a menu to copy the IP address and stop the existing VM instance. The settings pages will let you resize the disk, configure port forwarding, and potentially recover partitions.

...

If you’re wondering why you’d want to run Linux apps on Android, then this feature is probably not for you. Google added Linux support to Chrome OS so developers with Chromebooks can run Linux apps that are useful for development. For example, Linux support on Chrome OS allows developers to run the Linux version of Android Studio, the recommended IDE for Android app development, on Chromebooks. It also lets them run Linux command line tools safely and securely in a container.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

This could be really interesting. I don't personally see a use case for me to run Linux apps on Android. I could see myself running android apps on Linux though. Pretty happy to see this.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Interesting... but well.. Android isn't rooted, so will it use chroot or something like that? Or it will use a whole another kernel, complete VM?

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[–] humblebun 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I just wish I had vim with a tiny keyboard that I hit with one finger

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (3 children)

We already have termux for that, and on a rooted device you could do pretty much anything. This is pointless

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (6 children)

Chromebooks have the advantage of being mostly a laptop with a keyboard, mouse-analog and largish screen... Phones don't really have that, so it seems an odd choice to me. Especially for a platform which is hostile to giving users permissions to install software on their own devices.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I've been using Termux for years and there are a lot of nice things you can do. Also, a lot of nice tablets have good keyboards.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (16 children)

Yeah but to do that one thing that you really want to do, you need root and daddy says no.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Android runs on a LOT more then just phones, BlissOS/Android x86, Arcades, casinos, cars etc.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

This seems as much about converging Android and ChromeOS as anything.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Does termux not already do this?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

~~No, Termux uses proot~~

Only distro environments use proot. Termux runs as a normal app and just has binaries stored locally.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (8 children)

Very exciting stuff, Really hope wayland gets hooked up. if not, well, we can make it work somehow

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