I'm currently messing around with Termux and trying to install Linux through AnLinux, Andronix and UserLAnd just for fun.
I have mixed success in AnLinux. I successfully installed and started Lubuntu but it was running pretty slowly. I wasn't able to replicate the install a while later. Also I totally failed to get ArchLinux running.
Now I'm trying Andronix. Wish me luck!
Do you have any experience running a Linux on your mobile?
It's PinePhone Pro. Camera works badly, but at the time of purchase, it did not work, so we are slowly getting there.
Banking apps work through Waydroid.
It's not practical to use GNU/Linux on the phone, but fun đ
The battery life is awful. But I bought the official clamshell keyboard for it that replaces the back cover and expands the battery capacity. With this accessory the battery life is good.
I used to have various Linux setups on my Android phones. I experimented with different chroot setups and applications, settled on just generating my own chroot using debootstrap and mounting it with a script in the Terminal app. XServer XSDL for GUI. It worked, but it wasn't amazing.
These days I switched to proper Linux phone. Typing this on my PinePhonePro keyboard using postmarketOS. If you really want the best pocketable Linux experience you can get, this is by far the best. Might not be the best if you depend on Android apps, but my Android use case was mostly just browser and a few unimportant apps that have Linux alternatives.
I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're refering to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.
Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called Linux, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.
There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called Linux distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux!
Yes, it uses the Linux kernel, but usually when people are talking about running Linux on their mobile they're talking about running GNU/Linux, which is way more free (as in freedom) than any android garbage is. For example it is impossible for me to run arbitrary POSIX compliant shell scripts on an android phone.
Termux by itself can be a good linux shell standin if you're used to working from a command line. I like using it for vim or emacs-nox more than I like any android text editor apps that I've tried. Plus, Midnight Commander is a top notch file manager.
Neat! That could be very useful for everything that works well within the limitations of vnc.
Edit: I've tried this out! I loosely followed the guide on a Kindle Fire and I'm much more impressed with the results than I thought I would be. No Libreoffice in the default repository, but I'm impressed with the responsiveness while running Abiword in XFCE4. Initial impression is that the app selection is hit or miss relative to running full-bore linux on a desktop computer, but I'm still experimenting. Firefox installs and I was surprised to see that youtube videos were playable to an extent. Much less laggy than trying to run vnc between two separate devices. I'll probably keep this setup if for no other reason than to have a desktop version of firefox on my tablet.
I have Ubuntu running on andronix on my infinix note 12 g96. Ot runs really well. I use it for Libre office and vscode to do homework. There a few things that don't work tho. The patched version of vscode that andronix offers is ancient, a lot of extensions don't work. Your also limited to apps that are compatible with arm, I haven't been able to get box64 working, might try qemu for that some day
I'm still running Xubuntu through LinuxDeploy. Have been doing that for years, and didn't want to change the app, so I hacked it a little to work fine with newer Ubuntu versions. It's going really good.
LinuxDeploy requires root and hasn't been updated in half a decade, but it's super stable and does everything I want. GUI runs through VNC, shell through Terminal Emulator. It's nice.