I tried this out a little while ago and I was really impressed. It's worth mentioning that this isn't just a Debian chroot/container, the software is actually compiled to run natively on the Android NDK. It seems like they work around any limitations of Bionic compared to glibc by patching NDK headers and using support libraries.
Check out their "ports tree" to see what packages are available:
https://github.com/termux/termux-packages
In Termux: terminal emulator and Debian-style userland as an Android apptermux
termux-packages
Shell2015–2025
termux / termux-packages
termux-packages
A package build system for Termux.
31Distinct people
49Mentions
2Explicit recommenders
17.4KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
A package build system for Termux.
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
Because of some issues: https://github.com/termux/termux-packages/wiki/Termux-and-An... "Termux and its plugins are no longer updated on Google Play Store due to android 10…
ghoshbishakh used a recommendation phrase. 2 indexed comments match. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
- termux/termux-app · linked in 3 of the same discussions
Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 8–Nov 15 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/15/2026, 2:04:58 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year49 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2015-07-18 03:40:09 UTC to 2025-04-15 06:32:06 UTC.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2016 | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2017 | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2018 | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 16 | 2 | 14 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| 2025 | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 1 | 1 |
From the project README
An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.
Read the project’s introduction
Termux packages
This project contains scripts and patches to build packages for the Termux
Android application.
Quick how-to about Termux package management is available at Package Management. It also has info on how to fix repository is under maintenance or down errors when running apt or pkg commands.
Contributing
Read CONTRIBUTING.md and Developer's Wiki for more details.
Community
The Termux Community docs are available here.
All our community members must follow the rules that are defined here and any Content Not Allowed must not be posted.
Sponsors and Funders
GitHub Accelerator (1)
GitHub Secure Open Source Fund (1, 2)
NLnet NGI Mobifree (1, 2)
Cloudflare (1)
Read the full README on GitHubWhat Hacker News says
2 sourcesUse termux (termux.com) and then you can apt install many useful things (https://github.com/termux/termux-packages/tree/master/packag...)
You'll definitely want a keyboard
In Ask HN: Can programming be learnt completely on smartphone?