ternux█

A GPU-accelerated Linux desktop on the phone already in your pocket.

Termux + PRoot Debian + Xfce4, with real Vulkan through Zink / Turnip. No root.

No root ~12 GB base Android 10+ aarch64 Blender lightweight scenes Local AI Vulkan
See what it can do ternux Pro — private development →
termux — verifying the desktop
~ $ x Waiting for Termux-X11 display socket... [ OK ] display :0 responding [ OK ] pulseaudio bridged on tcp:127.0.0.1:4713 ternux@debian:~$ glxinfo | grep "renderer string" OpenGL renderer string: zink Vulkan (Adreno (TM) (MESA_TURNIP)) ternux@debian:~$ vulkaninfo --summary | grep driverName driverName: Turnip [VERIFIED] hardware-backed graphics path

Proven beyond the desktop

A pocket workstation with real jobs to do

CREATIVE

Lightweight Blender

Low-poly modelling, simple materials and modest scenes. Smooth enough to be useful on the author's tested Turnip device.
ON-DEVICE AI

Vulkan local models

llama.cpp with compact 1–2B Q4 GGUF models for private, offline chat and small assistant workflows.
DEVELOPMENT

Code from the terminal

Git, Node.js and coding assistants such as Claude Code, Hermes or OpenCode—subject to each provider's terms.
DEFENSIVE LAB

Portable security toolkit

Network discovery, packet analysis and assessment tools for systems you own or are explicitly authorised to test.

Blender performance is an author-reported workload result, not a cross-device guarantee. Heavy renders, large models and sustained mining remain poor phone workloads.

Step zero

Which graphics path is your phone on?

Qualcomm Adreno — the fast path

If ls /dev/kgsl-3d0 finds the device, you have an Adreno GPU. Zink translates OpenGL to Vulkan and Turnip drives the hardware directly.

preferred supported routehardware accelerated

The trap: the Turnip package ships no Vulkan loader. Miss libvulkan1 and Zink silently falls back to CPU rendering — with no error message at all.

What Pro orchestrates

Nine verified phases, then a professional handover

01Device preflightArchitecture, Android, storage, network and app readiness
02Termux foundationHost-side components and services, verified before use
03Debian workspaceContainer, Xfce4 and a normal desktop user
04Graphics selectionTurnip for supported Adreno hardware or the VirGL compatibility path
05Desktop integrationDisplay, audio, locale, fonts and shared storage
06Reliable controlsStart, stop, stale-state recovery and daily shell access
07Android safeguardsBackground-process limits detected and explained
08Acceptance testsRenderer, Vulkan, display and audio must prove the result
09HandoverHealth report, workload choice, baseline and backup

Clear boundaries

Useful public guidance. Private deployment implementation.

Public documentation

Open · MIT · available now

  • Compatibility and architecture without marketing guesswork
  • Daily operation, renderer checks and troubleshooting
  • Realistic Blender, local-AI and development guidance
  • Responsible, authorised security-lab use
  • No fake installer endpoint and no secret material
Explore usage

The complete installer and implementation procedure are private Pro release materials and are not published on this site.

Documentation

The useful parts, clearly documented

01 — READINESS

Get ternux

Device readiness, the private deployment overview and a practical after-setup plan.
02 — PRODUCT

ternux Pro

The one-command installer, in development. What it will do — and what it deliberately will not.
03 — DAILY

Usage

Daily controls, lightweight Blender, local AI, development and authorised security labs.
04 — SUPPORT

Support & diagnostics

Classify symptoms, collect a safe report and see what version-matched recovery Pro will provide.
05 — TUNING

Configuration

GPU routes, workload profiles, resource limits, cache, security and update policy.
06 — DESIGN

Architecture

How Termux, PRoot, X11 and Mesa actually fit together.
07 — ANSWERS

FAQ

Root, battery, storage, Play Store Termux, and why not a VM.
08 — SOURCE

GitHub

Issues, discussion and the documentation source itself.