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Show HN: Termux – Terminal emulator and Unix environment for Android

michaelmior 11y ago
This looks cool, but sadly not compatible with either of my devices. What requirements does this have? It's never clear to me if I can find this out on Google Play.
- e12e 11y ago
  As far as I can tell the source for the APK itself isn't available -- but it seems to be targeting Android 5.
  - fredrikfornwall 11y ago
    Yes, Android 5.0 or later is required due to the libc changes made in lollipop. It also requires an arm(64) or x86(_64) cpu - no mips support at the moment!
    - e12e 11y ago
      Finally updated my note3 to lollipop - I like your price point for the theme-addon. Bought it. Keep up the good work! :)
      - fredrikfornwall 11y ago
        Great, thanks :). Let me know if you miss any font or colour theme from it!
e12e 11y ago
Looks very nice. You should perhaps make the github/source link[1] a bit easier to find, than just pop it on the help-page -- at first I thought you were ignoring the GPL for bash etc. [1] https://github.com/termux/termux-packages https://github.com/termux/termux-packages
- fredrikfornwall 11y ago
  Thanks! I'll think about making the source more obvious in the store listing or the app interface.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
brillenfux 11y ago
I'll leave this here http://kevinboone.net/kbox3.html http://kevinboone.net/kbox3.html. I'm using it for years now, together with Android Terminal Emulator.
- fredrikfornwall 11y ago
  Thanks, KBOX have been one of the inspirations for the app! The main technical difference between how Termux and KBOX runs packages is that is that KBOX uses libfakechroot for running binaries under a fake chroot environment, while Termux runs without a chroot, having instead patched the packages to live under the file system hierarchy enforced by Android. Besides that, the ambition is that Termux should give a more "out of the box" user friendly experience directly after installation to encourage newcomers to the world of terminals :).
  - eggy 11y ago
    How does this compare to TerminalIDE? I'll try this out and KBOX too for myself. Thanks!
    - fredrikfornwall 11y ago
      I think TerminalIDE is rather similar, with Termux having more up-to-date packages and terminal emulation. Since Termux requires Lollipop or later, and TerminalIDE only works on Android versions prior to lollipop, TerminalIDE could be an alternative for devices running older Android versions. Thanks for trying it out - let me know if you have any suggestions for improving the app!
      - eggy 11y ago
        I tried 'apt-get install' by mistake. I see your help file uses 'apt install'. I tried 'apt install picolisp', but no luck. Do you have your own package repository? Thanks.
        fredrikfornwall 11y ago
frankiesardo 11y ago
Just tried apt install emacs. Launched. It works! I'm finally proud of my Nexus 9 with keyboard.
erikb 11y ago
The main problem (imho) with Android is not the interface, but the input. We have a touch display and I have yet to see an interface that I would like to use 8h/day to do work with. The keyboards they blend in are better than anything we had in the past for mobile devices, but they just don't cut it if you want to work. For example a shortcut is likely not "touch ctrl" then "touch a" then "touch k" then "touch y" (exit from screen). A shortcut might be a drawn out pattern (I guess). Another solution might include sounds, interacting with the microphone. Or using the camera and recognizing gestures. There are many things the traditional computer doesn't have. And in exchange we don't have on a mobile device what we have on a computer: a desk to put a keyboard on. I already have a terminal for Android, SSH, IDEs, etc. But where are people on making the text (or command) come from my head into the app?
- ilaksh 11y ago
  Try Hacker's Keyboard. Or a real bluetooth keyboard. I now actually prefer the Hacker's Keyboard on my Nexus 6 in portrait because the regular keyboard takes a lot of energy and generally is a hassle and really loud. I do all of my programming and everything on Android for the last 4 months.
  - sz4kerto 11y ago
    > I do all of my programming and everything on Android for the last 4 months. On a Nexus 6? Or on a 9-inch tablet? Why?
    - ilaksh 11y ago
      I used a 7 inch tablet and now my Nexus. I just need a terminal and/or ssh window and a browser. I have also been sshing into my Linode so maybe that's cheating. But I can do that stuff fine on a tablet/phablet. Laptop is really big and heavy and uses 2-10x as much energy. Seems outdated. And typing is really loud.
ilaksh 11y ago
Works awesome on my Nexus 6 so far. Woww.. great job! fish package install output something weird but it works. And nodejs installed! You are da man, man! Now maybe I won't bother rooting it.
any1 11y ago
This works quite well on my Nvidia Shield Android TV. Now I just need a way to easily shift between the browser and the terminal.
jekub 11y ago
Very good ! Thanks. There is still some problems, on my nexus 9 "make" complain that it doesn't find "/bin/sh" which is normal, is it possible to change this so it can find the provided shell ? And "ld" from binutils require gcc so it seems that it is not possible to work only with clang ? Thanks a lot, it is the best solution to develop on my Nexus 9, it really shine again !
- fredrikfornwall 11y ago
  Thanks! Is it the make program itself which tries to run /bin/sh, or does it try to run a file from a project which has a #!/bin/sh start? If it's GNU make itself which tries to call /bin/sh directly, that could be patched from my side. But if it is a script from a file, you have to make the shebang replacement #!/bin/sh -> #!${PREFIX}/bin/sh yourself on all script files to be executed - there is a simple termux-fix-shebang script installed by default for that!
  - jekub 11y ago
    I've tryed it on a very simple makefile and after some testing found what trigger the message. It is simply a line with an "echo" command. It seems that make try to run it with "/bin/sh".
    - fredrikfornwall 11y ago
      Thanks - this is now fixed, if you do an 'apt update && apt upgrade' it should now work!
      - jekub 11y ago
        Thanks, it works perfectly now. Do you plan to also make a version for 64bit ARM ? This one works perfectly on my Nexus 9 but I would love to be able to develop for ARM64 directly on it. Thank you for your work, From what I see on the play store, you plan to make money with the extensions ? I will probably buy at least the theme one soon.

This looks cool, but sadly not compatible with either of my devices. What requirements does this have? It's never clear to me if I can find this out on Google Play.

e12e 11y ago
As far as I can tell the source for the APK itself isn't available -- but it seems to be targeting Android 5.
- fredrikfornwall 11y ago
  Yes, Android 5.0 or later is required due to the libc changes made in lollipop. It also requires an arm(64) or x86(_64) cpu - no mips support at the moment!
  - e12e 11y ago
    Finally updated my note3 to lollipop - I like your price point for the theme-addon. Bought it. Keep up the good work! :)
    - fredrikfornwall 11y ago
      Great, thanks :). Let me know if you miss any font or colour theme from it!

e12e 11y ago

Looks very nice. You should perhaps make the github/source link[1] a bit easier to find, than just pop it on the help-page -- at first I thought you were ignoring the GPL for bash etc. [1] https://github.com/termux/termux-packages https://github.com/termux/termux-packages

fredrikfornwall 11y ago
Thanks! I'll think about making the source more obvious in the store listing or the app interface.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

brillenfux 11y ago

I'll leave this here http://kevinboone.net/kbox3.html http://kevinboone.net/kbox3.html. I'm using it for years now, together with Android Terminal Emulator.

fredrikfornwall 11y ago
Thanks, KBOX have been one of the inspirations for the app! The main technical difference between how Termux and KBOX runs packages is that is that KBOX uses libfakechroot for running binaries under a fake chroot environment, while Termux runs without a chroot, having instead patched the packages to live under the file system hierarchy enforced by Android. Besides that, the ambition is that Termux should give a more "out of the box" user friendly experience directly after installation to encourage newcomers to the world of terminals :).
- eggy 11y ago
  How does this compare to TerminalIDE? I'll try this out and KBOX too for myself. Thanks!
  - fredrikfornwall 11y ago
    I think TerminalIDE is rather similar, with Termux having more up-to-date packages and terminal emulation. Since Termux requires Lollipop or later, and TerminalIDE only works on Android versions prior to lollipop, TerminalIDE could be an alternative for devices running older Android versions. Thanks for trying it out - let me know if you have any suggestions for improving the app!
    - eggy 11y ago
      I tried 'apt-get install' by mistake. I see your help file uses 'apt install'. I tried 'apt install picolisp', but no luck. Do you have your own package repository? Thanks.
      - fredrikfornwall 11y ago

frankiesardo 11y ago

Just tried apt install emacs. Launched. It works! I'm finally proud of my Nexus 9 with keyboard.

erikb 11y ago

The main problem (imho) with Android is not the interface, but the input. We have a touch display and I have yet to see an interface that I would like to use 8h/day to do work with. The keyboards they blend in are better than anything we had in the past for mobile devices, but they just don't cut it if you want to work. For example a shortcut is likely not "touch ctrl" then "touch a" then "touch k" then "touch y" (exit from screen). A shortcut might be a drawn out pattern (I guess). Another solution might include sounds, interacting with the microphone. Or using the camera and recognizing gestures. There are many things the traditional computer doesn't have. And in exchange we don't have on a mobile device what we have on a computer: a desk to put a keyboard on. I already have a terminal for Android, SSH, IDEs, etc. But where are people on making the text (or command) come from my head into the app?

ilaksh 11y ago
Try Hacker's Keyboard. Or a real bluetooth keyboard. I now actually prefer the Hacker's Keyboard on my Nexus 6 in portrait because the regular keyboard takes a lot of energy and generally is a hassle and really loud. I do all of my programming and everything on Android for the last 4 months.
- sz4kerto 11y ago
  > I do all of my programming and everything on Android for the last 4 months. On a Nexus 6? Or on a 9-inch tablet? Why?
  - ilaksh 11y ago
    I used a 7 inch tablet and now my Nexus. I just need a terminal and/or ssh window and a browser. I have also been sshing into my Linode so maybe that's cheating. But I can do that stuff fine on a tablet/phablet. Laptop is really big and heavy and uses 2-10x as much energy. Seems outdated. And typing is really loud.

ilaksh 11y ago

Works awesome on my Nexus 6 so far. Woww.. great job! fish package install output something weird but it works. And nodejs installed! You are da man, man! Now maybe I won't bother rooting it.

any1 11y ago

This works quite well on my Nvidia Shield Android TV. Now I just need a way to easily shift between the browser and the terminal.

jekub 11y ago

Very good ! Thanks. There is still some problems, on my nexus 9 "make" complain that it doesn't find "/bin/sh" which is normal, is it possible to change this so it can find the provided shell ? And "ld" from binutils require gcc so it seems that it is not possible to work only with clang ? Thanks a lot, it is the best solution to develop on my Nexus 9, it really shine again !

fredrikfornwall 11y ago
Thanks! Is it the make program itself which tries to run /bin/sh, or does it try to run a file from a project which has a #!/bin/sh start? If it's GNU make itself which tries to call /bin/sh directly, that could be patched from my side. But if it is a script from a file, you have to make the shebang replacement #!/bin/sh -> #!${PREFIX}/bin/sh yourself on all script files to be executed - there is a simple termux-fix-shebang script installed by default for that!
- jekub 11y ago
  I've tryed it on a very simple makefile and after some testing found what trigger the message. It is simply a line with an "echo" command. It seems that make try to run it with "/bin/sh".
  - fredrikfornwall 11y ago
    Thanks - this is now fixed, if you do an 'apt update && apt upgrade' it should now work!
    - jekub 11y ago
      Thanks, it works perfectly now. Do you plan to also make a version for 64bit ARM ? This one works perfectly on my Nexus 9 but I would love to be able to develop for ARM64 directly on it. Thank you for your work, From what I see on the play store, you plan to make money with the extensions ? I will probably buy at least the theme one soon.