Can you use a real Linux terminal on Android?

Short answer

Yes, a real shell — though not a full Linux distribution. PocketCode includes a built-in terminal that runs BusyBox's ash (v1.34.1, 373 applets) and Node.js on your device, with no root required. There is no package manager, git, Python, curl or ssh in the local shell. It also connects to remote machines over SSH and transfers files via SFTP, with key and password authentication, port forwarding, and a 10,000-line scrollback.