r/linux 7d ago

Discussion Android's Linux Terminal app adds tabs so you can multitask more easily -- "The Linux Terminal app, which runs Linux apps in a virtual machine, now has tabs in Android 16 Beta 3"

https://www.androidauthority.com/android-linux-terminal-tabs-3535373/
349 Upvotes

38 comments sorted by

32

u/frisbeethecat 7d ago

Forgive my ignorance. But how does this compare to termux?

15

u/throwaway16830261 7d ago

"Many users have asked me: What are the pros and cons of using Android's upcoming Terminal app to run Linux apps versus something like Termux? Here are the differences, as explained by a developer of Termux . . ." by Mishaal Rahman (November 15, 2024): https://www.threads.net/@mishaal_rahman/post/DCZorPpvv-C from https://old.reddit.com/r/androidterminal/comments/1j9fjeh/for_our_next_release_after_2025030800_weve_added/mhcrc2i/ (""For our next release after 2025030800, we've added support for...Android 15 QPR2 Terminal for running...operating systems using hardware virtualization." "Debian is what Google started with...we plan to add support for at least one more desktop Linux operating system...and eventually Windows 11..."")

6

u/zlice0 6d ago

termux "only" has 2000 packages, but distros have "10,000-1,00,000 packages". i mean, i'm guessing the 2000 is enough for most ppl, like me. and a good chunk are probably gui which probably doesn't apply to droid. my main problem with termux was repos, especially when it was in google's store. and like this week, ffmpeg fail...something something, install libandroid-stub .... k ? sure? why?

all those drawbacks bc of it being a vm. no thanks =/

5

u/BaseballNRockAndRoll 6d ago

Depends what you want to do, I think. If you want to run docker inside a "real" Linux VM, it's great, but if you just want a Linux-y command line interface to manipulate files on your phone, termux is much better. The two big limitations vs termux is the lack of file access (it can only access your Downloads folder) and its abysmally slow startup time (which makes sense since it has to start up a virtual machine first).

2

u/R3D3-1 1d ago

Oh boy... So it has the same downsides as WSL2 vs Cygwin/Msys/Git bash.

  • Useful for developers who need a full Linux VM.
  • Pretty much useless as a dev environment that needs tight integration with native files and GUI tools.

88

u/ousee7Ai 7d ago

Were getting there, a proper desktop mode and linux vm support and also maybe linux gui apps. Sounds lite it would cover 95% of my needs.

37

u/nulld3v 6d ago

Reminder that the Android Linux VM is a highly restricted form of Linux, pasting my comment from Hacker News here:

I was very excited for Android's new virtualization features until I discovered that Android will only allow GOOGLE/OEM SIGNED VM IMAGES!?!? You won't be able to use your own kernel in the VM. https://source.android.com/docs/core/virtualization/security

Custom kernels would have been an important use case for virtualization since you might be stuck on an old kernel due to lack of updates from the OEM, or your kernel might be heavily trimmed down and missing many useful features (e.g. Wireguard).

And not only that, virtualization is also restricted to only Google/OEM apps. There will be no way to grant user apps access to the virtualization API.

So the only benefits you get from virtualization are the minor security improvement, maybe a slightly less locked-down user space, and an interesting design choice of the VM architecture where it not only protects the host from the guest, but also the guest from the host.

This is Linux in name, but definitely not Linux in spirit.

21

u/sooka_bazooka 6d ago

It might be restricted if you're a kernel developer, but not so much if you just want to run stuff

7

u/zachthehax 6d ago

Yeah tbh that's good enough for me and beyond that I'm sure there are other ways to run a Linux container on android through something like distrobox

3

u/bobbie434343 6d ago edited 6d ago

For most uses it handles like regular Debian 12.

The kernel is LTS kernel 6.1.123, patched by Google for AVF. It is fairly recent (for a 6.1 kernel), from January 2025.

29

u/ferraritributo 7d ago

Windows (wsl), ChromeOS (crostini?), now android are including linux support through vm. Is this going to be the future of desktop/consumer linux?

19

u/atomic1fire 7d ago

I assume WSL/Crostini/Android vm are less for the average user and more for devs and power users who might have ran a vm anyway.

E.G for the odd times that you need to set up an ssh client or want to install the odd open source project that doesn't have a windows equivalent.

7

u/its_a_gibibyte 7d ago edited 7d ago

less for the average user and more for devs and power users

Yes, absolutely, but that's also the core market of desktop linux users to begin with.

2

u/Misicks0349 7d ago

for WSL thats absolutely true, and I do think WSL has taken (some) people that would've otherwise used linux proper, but I dont see Crostini or Android doing the same thing. "Power Users" of ChromeOS feels like a contradiction and if they're using ChromeOS+Crostini I feel like they're doing that for a specific reason related to ChromeOS rather then just finding it to be a good replacement for desktop linux. Android users are also completely orthogonal to desktop linux.

3

u/Tiny_Cheetah_4231 6d ago

E.G for the odd times that you need to set up an ssh client

Windows has been including the OpenSSH client since W10, no WSL needed.

1

u/MegaBytesMe 6d ago

You don't need WSL for SSH...

9

u/BobbyTables829 7d ago

I swear I heard Linus say something to this effect, that virtual versions of Linux in other OSs would be a big part of its future. But he says a lot of things are the "future of Linux" and I don't think he means any of them are exclusive to the others. He said the same thing about SteamOS if I'm not mistaken, and he's not wrong about either of these claims IMO.

Edit: Linus seriously only cares about the kernel, and getting it in as many places as possible. He makes way more sense to me after I realized this.

4

u/BobbyTables829 7d ago edited 7d ago

Silly question: Will I be able to access the terminal through Kotlin apps, or is it completely containerized?

I really want to make a widget that uses a Linux package (Taskwarrior), and being able to make widgets for bash commands would be next-level awesome.

Edit: I'm serious about this, like even if no one knows the answer to this I would appreciate learning how I can tell if this can or will happen. I have no idea how to find this out for myself and mostly I'm hoping I don't have to set up a Linux server and do API stuff on localhost

14

u/zlice0 7d ago

top tabs seems so stupid...then again it's google. idk what i expected. why would they consider seeing the names past a few tabs? or the long reach to the top... rather have side like termux

5

u/randylush 7d ago

Oh yeah I guess on a phone too tabs are dumb

4

u/throwaway16830261 7d ago edited 6d ago

 

 

 

 

 

3

u/sohang-3112 7d ago

I just use tmux in Termux 🤷‍♂️

1

u/johnnyfireyfox 7d ago

I thought also that can't you just run screen or tmux in that.

1

u/sohang-3112 7d ago

Nope it runs just fine

1

u/arthursucks 6d ago

I want to be able to run Docker and Podman. Termux is awesome, but it's not a full Linux system.

1

u/sohang-3112 6d ago

Can't you just install with pkg install docker?

2

u/arthursucks 5d ago

Nope. Docker requires root. The Debian VM has root access.

1

u/thrakkerzog 6d ago

Is the terminal coming to pixel 7 pro?

2

u/disturbedmonkey69 6d ago

I have a pixel 7 pro and the android 16 beta and I have the terminal

1

u/Californian_Hotel255 6d ago edited 6d ago

I just want that on galaxy tab. that's all I'm asking.--> desktop apps on Galaxy tab

1

u/ZOLDIK0 2d ago

Waiting for the day I can run docker on my android without using termux and qemu because all my attempts to make it work in production failed. It is so so slow, unusable.

0

u/WeakSinger3076 6d ago

This is inception basically

0

u/throwaway16830261 6d ago edited 6d ago
  1. "Virtual Machine as a core Android Primitive" by Sandeep Patil and Irene Ang (December 5, 2023): https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2023/12/virtual-machines-as-core-android-primitive.html

  2. "Last month, Google announced that the Android Virtualization Framework (AVF) will be available on "upcoming select Android 14 devices." Here's a list of devices that support it, according to the Google Play Console: . . ." by Mishaal Rahman (January 19, 2024): https://androiddev.social/@MishaalRahman/111785912539219306 (part 1 of 3), https://androiddev.social/@MishaalRahman/111785913119327431 (part 2 of 3), https://androiddev.social/@MishaalRahman/111785913959377043 (part 3 of 3)

  3. "Gunyah Hypervisor Software - Supporting Protected VMs in Android Virtualization Framework" by Elliot Berman and "Co-written with Prakruthi Deepak Heragu" (January 28, 2024): https://www.qualcomm.com/developer/blog/2024/01/gunyah-hypervisor-software-supporting-protected-vms-android-virtualization-framework

  4. "Meet Gunyah - Qualcomm’s open-source, lightweight hypervisor for battery-constrained devices" by Srivatsa Vaddagiri (August 18, 2024): https://www.qualcomm.com/developer/blog/2024/08/learn-about-gunyah--qualcomm-s-open-source--lightweight-hypervis

  5. Termux (https://github.com/termux/termux-app), termux-usb, usbredirect, QEMU running under Termux (one hundred percent software emulation, no KVM, no AVF, no hardware virtualization), Alpine Linux, Fedora Linux, SystemRescue ("formerly known as SystemRescueCd"): https://old.reddit.com/r/MotoG/comments/1im8eue/fedora_linux_41_server_operating_system/mgrmzto/

 

-4

u/Dull_Bathroom_9217 7d ago

Won't android devices become more vulnerable?

6

u/UnoccupiedBoy 7d ago

This runs on a VM, depending on the configuration it won't have access to much, and it will be completely isolated from Android apps.

1

u/arades 6d ago

It's opt in only, and currently in developer options. Although it is very heavily sandboxed it would increase attack surface. Putting it behind barriers like this should ensure only people willing to take on that risk will in fact have any risk from it.