this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2026
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Programming

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Is it viable to run a SDL linux program/game from Termux? (programming.dev)
submitted 1 day ago by ICastFist@programming.dev to c/programming@programming.dev
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Say I make a game that uses SDL for graphics and compile a linux version of it. Instead of going through the hassle of using Android SDK/NDK to make it a proper installable apk, would it be viable to have it be run as a program off termux?

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[–] HelloRoot@lemy.lol 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I feel like it's less hassle to do an android apk then to make it run in termux

[–] 30p87@feddit.org 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

According to https://www.reddit.com/r/termux/comments/105fjt8/how_to_install_and_run_sdl2/,

pkg install x11-repo; pkg install sdl2

Though that would probably be different to what an actual APK would be at the end due to the X11 layer

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not quite what I asked. I meant, if I make a linux executable, for ARM cpu, that uses SDL (suppose all libs and dependencies are packed in) and run it from termux, will it work?

[–] pelya@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It won't, because there's no graphics display, so SDL won't initialize.

You need to install and launch Termux:X11 to provide a video surface, and it won't support GL acceleration.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 6 points 1 day ago

I think that SDL can do aalib and libcaca.

searches

Hmm. No. I must be thinking of mpv.

SDL 1.2 could do aalib, but apparently 2 cannot:

https://wiki.libsdl.org/SDL2/FAQUsingSDL