From david at boddie.org.uk Wed Mar 21 18:37:09 2018 From: david at boddie.org.uk (David Boddie) Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2018 22:37:09 +0000 Subject: [Mobile-sig] Using Python in Termux Message-ID: I needed to buy a phone recently and picked up a cheap Android device. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to try Termux on it, just to see what it was like: https://termux.com/ The version of Termux I used requires Android 5.0 or newer. The packaging system has packages for Python (2 and 3) though there is a lack of popular libraries - I was looking for PyCrypto and couldn't find it, but I haven't yet tried to build packages for myself. This page looks like a good starting point for that: https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Package_Management Since I wanted a more mainstream experience I installed a Debian chroot inside the Termux environment: https://wiki.termux.com/wiki/Debian https://github.com/sp4rkie/debian-on-termux This didn't initially work for my new phone but I managed to install something usable on a tablet. I later went back and used the same debian_on_termux.sh script to set up a chroot on my phone. One interesting feature of this is that it makes it possible for Android devices to host their own development tools. For example, I used it to build the examples for my compiler on the tablet itself, copying the APK files to a directory on the micro SD card and using a file browser to install them manually. I'm sure that other solutions that can produce APK files can use (and perhaps already are using) this sort of hosted environment to turn Android devices into self-hosting development environments. Anyway, that's something for readers of this list to ponder until next month's message. ;-) David