Yes, Linux on Android, or more precisely, “Linux inside Android”. In a perfect world, device drivers wouldn't be such a nightmare and we could install our favorite distro natively on a smartphone as if it were a simple computer, but the simplest alternative, so to speak, is to use Linux Deploy, which supports nine different distros and can emulate x86.
Why Linux on Android?
Modern mobile devices have specifications on par with many desktop and laptop computers. Unfortunately, the similarities usually end there. If it's already hard to convince manufacturers to support their own products for a reasonable time, imagine suggesting the possibility of wiping the operating system and installing another. Projects like LineageOS achieve this always within Android’s parameters, but there are times when we want to go further. A smartphone with Debian. Slackware on a tablet. At the end of March we explored a project that converts smartphones into Debian servers, and its key piece was Linux Deploy.
What You Need
At first, Linux Deploy had documentation problems, but over the months it has gained a lot of ground. What exactly do you need to use it? The first thing on the list is a rooted Android device. Linux Deploy states that its minimum compatibility is with Android 2.3.3; however, it is hard to imagine a Linux installation running well on such old mobile hardware. The next step is to get the latest version of BusyBox, and the third element is a VNC viewer (VNC Viewer is free, and has good feedback).
Installing Linux Deploy
At this point we install Linux Deploy, which out of the box offers a Debian environment. In the top right corner we find the option to enable VNC, the username and password (we take note of both). We press Start, and wait.
Accessing Your Linux Desktop
Once the installation is finished, the last action is to open the VNC viewer, type “localhost” as the address, and the password we noted earlier. If everything goes well, we will see a complete Linux desktop. The last update of Linux Deploy was August 8, and although it still has its share of rough edges, it is more than enough to experiment.
