Very cool ! Finally something to do with my old phones lying around
(but who commits their .DS_Store file tho ? 🙈)
this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2026
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I'm convinced Mac users just become blind to the file. I see it all over repos at work.
Over the last 15 years, I went from Mac, to Windows, to Linux. I'm still finding old .DS_Store files and deleting them.
Because adding to the .gitignore would threaten their existence.
rookie mistake 🤣
Never used mac before, whats this. DS_Store file for?
Nintendogs save file I think
Ah yeah of course 😅
There is also "local desktop" app which automates most of steps to make system.
Incredible things are happening with termux.
Are phones with 3gb of ram considered "old" already?
We've had octo-core CPUs in phones for 13 years....
Yes
sadly yeah. mine still has 2gb.. lolz
We have had android phones with 6gb ram since 2016, which was 10 years ago. 3gb is absolutely ancient when it comes to android phones
My 5 year old Xiaomi has 8G
This doesn't look like another alpine vm. But maybe I misread the install script. I see it uses apt so some sort of Debian base? If so, no root, GPU accelerated, not virtualized, Linux on Android is quite the accomplishment.
It's an installer for Termux packages. You can do the same thing manually in Termux shell, if you know the names of packages you are installing.
And yes, Termux uses Debian apt package manager.
Thanks, that was definitely the missing piece in my understanding.
Though they recommend to use their pkg wrapper instead right?
Just to put it out here. Termux has proot-distro that allows you to run qite a few distros as containers. Technically not a VM afaik. I find it useful, because it is sometimes simpler to wipe that instead of reinstalling Termux.
You never needed a VM to run Linux apps on Android. Android can run Linux apps because it is already a Linux operating system. This is like referring to a docker container as "running Linux on Debian" or whatever.
Is it possible to have a no-graphical session ? Boot on tmux directly for example ? That's could be great!
I would imagine so.
we really need a user friendly gui app tgat can finish tge whole setup into a linux environment quickly and easily. think of it like carlimaries installer for linux on Android
This, apart from the home assistant use, may be a great solution for an all in one klipper setup for 3d printers (I currently use a RasPi, and a tablet as a touchscreen), or installed inside a chunky keyboard, paired with one of these USB C all in one hubs as a PC in a keyboard build,. Neat.
Any way to hook old phones to an external screen without wifi? Because that'd make this even better
Is Termux an operating system by itself?
It's not, it is a terminal emulator application for Android that creates a Linux-like environment.
What I ask myself here is why I should have unused phones lying around in the first place?
If I somehow think constantly wasting money on a new model just because there is a new number written on its packaging is worth it, I would not actually think in terms of reusing old hardware.
If I am however thinking about using hardware instead of just throwing it away while still functional why wouldn't I use a phone as anyone else as a phone?
Could be a number of things. Battery life has significantly decreased. Can't run recent Android versions, no longer getting security updates, or even software not running because the Android version is no longer supported. I've had 3 phones in the last 15 years or so (still on the 3rd) and I still have the other two and they run, but not for long without being plugged in.
There isn't only one reason for that to happen. I have two old smartphones around. Both are no longer usable with any worthwhile mobile service in Canada. The first (and oldest - originally mine before becoming a hand-me-down to a relative) went out of use after the elderly person who was using it had it active for a year or two but then stopped bothering with it due to his illness keeping him at home and preference for larger screens in general. The other I'd still be using (still use it for some things!) if I could. I have always used my computers, phones, etc. as long as I could get away with but for #2, I had to get a newer (but used) phone to keep service after the end of 3G in Canada. The new phone is definitely nicer in some ways but I wouldn't have changed phones if I had a choice. 🤷🏾♀️
Well you answered your own question, you should not have unused phones lying around because you use them till they die, good.
Now if for any other reason you end up with unused phones that nobody else wants to use here is something you can do with them!
This is my case, I get phones handed down to me, if it's any better than anything I use I migrate to it and keep the old one in case something happens to the new one.
I still have my previous phone... S5 that I used for seven years until it couldn't get updates and I "needed" some apps that wouldn't run on the old android version (I don't remember what they were at this point or if there was a way around it).
It's been sitting on my desk for the past 5 years waiting for a purpose. The battery is shot but it still "works". Maybe this is that purpose because I was specifically looking for something like this a few months back ...because I thought it would be funny to have that phone as a server.
Just an FYI, changing a battery in a phone with a glued back cover is fairly trivial. A hair dryer Is usually enough, tons of youtube tutorials, and you can get plastic back covers to replace the shitty glass ones from aliexpress for peanuts
This one is old enough that the back is easily removable and battery easily replaceable. I went through three in it's life of daily usage. It was the lack of updates that made it unusable day to day. It was crazy "slow" too but a factory reset helped a lot.
I popped fdroid on it yesterday but there was no version of termux there that will run on Android 5.0.1.
I found another terminal emulator that seems to work. Don't recall the name offhand but I'd never heard of it.
...fdroid wasn't trivial because the phone has certs so old that it couldn't communicate with the repos until I manually downloaded and installed a newer cert.