Setting Up Termux on an Android Tablet

I set up a Linux development environment by installing Termux on an 8-inch Android tablet. I have summarized my research on the tablet in this article.

Android, scheduled for release in June 2025, will introduce a Linux terminal (Debian).

F-Droid and Termux

To install Termux, first install F-Droid. I manually installed the package distributed on the official website.

Launch the F-Droid app and update the repositories. Once the update is complete, search for Termux and install it.

Updating Packages

First, configure the mirror sites. You can stick with the default options for everything.

termux-change-repo

Next, update the packages using pkg.

pkg update
pkg upgrade

Clipboard

I installed the following package to use the clipboard.

pkg install termux-api

Internal Storage

I executed the following command to access the internal storage:

termux-change-repo

Pasting is done with Ctrl + Alt + V.

nano or micro

Install nano or micro to handle text files in the terminal.

pkg install nano

pkg install micro

curl

Checking the curl version shows that HTTP/3 is supported.

curl -V

Git and OpenSSH

Install Git with the following command. OpenSSH will be installed along with it.

pkg install git

Python

I installed Python.

pkg install python

JavaScript Runtime Environment

Packages for Node.js and Bun are available.

pkg install nodejs

pkg install bun

Although Deno distributes binaries for ARM, they do not work with Termux's default settings.

This is because Termux's C library is Bionic, not the GNU libc used in standard Linux.

Therefore, I used a library distributed by an individual this time.

When I checked with the ldd .deno/bin/deno command to run the officially distributed Deno binary, the following libraries were missing.

Termux's shared libraries are installed in /system/lib and /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/lib.

Building a Virtual Environment with PRoot

By introducing PRoot, you can use various Linux distributions.

pkg install proot-distro

The following code is an example of installing and logging into Debian.

proot-distro install debian

proot-distro login debian

Options for Development Environment Management Tools

When developing tools in a programming language, it is necessary to consider introducing development environment management tools that allow for the installation of the latest versions. Tools I have used before include Homebrew, asdf/mise, and Nix/devbox.

Homebrew requires downloading and compiling large files such as gcc, so I do not recommend it much in a Linux environment.

I tried installing asdf/mise and Nix on Termux, but they did not work.

Nix can be used through the nix-on-droid app. The nix-on-droid app can be installed from F-Droid.