2026

I just got done replying to a private message on the audio games forum. I almost never get those, and I wanted to do it on my phone. I first tried opening the native Chrome browser on my phone. I opened the Audio Games forum, then tried to find where to log in.

There was no log in link. It went straight from a link to the forum to the different rooms. So I decided not to deal with it right then. Today, I got it done.

Termux-x11

Since I already have Termux, basically a full Linux system, all I need for a desktop is the desktop environment, apps, and an X11 client to show them all on. And I have all three. The Termux repository has the MATE desktop. It has Chromium. It even has Orca and everything it needs to work.

So, I had already gotten Codex to make a script that loads Mate, sets all the accessibility variables, and runs Termux-x11. It’s nice. I just type ./mate.sh, press Enter, and I’m placed into the desktop environment. But then, there were some issues.

Orca keyboard layouts

My current Bluetooth keyboard doesn’t have a number pad. It doesn’t have an Insert key. So, I got Codex to change Orca’s layout to the laptop layout. I then went through Orca 50’s new preferences panel, changing my preferences. After that, I was all set to continue.

Keys to the Chromium

When I ran Chromium, it asked for my password. I tried some, they didn’t work. I suspect Chromium was trying to use my login to secure its passwords. I don’t need all this; I doubt this will become my primary desktop after all. So I told my AI, Codex, to get rid of that.

Then, the Chromium renderer crashed. Codex fixed that too. Now, there was nothing stopping me from replying to that message!

Termux has Orca version 50. That’s even newer than what Fedora 43 has, as of last Friday. So I easily logged into the forum, found the message, and replied, using the same keys I’d normally use with Orca. All on my phone!

A smaller issue

I’m not sure if this is Termux, or Termux-x11, but when I arrow or Tab around, sometimes Orca doesn’t speak the item in focus. It’s not a huge issue, but it is one that makes me want to use the desktop environment a little less; only for things I can’t do on Android or in the Termux CLI. But I’m able to get what I need done with it, so it doesn’t bother me too much.

In Emacs, on Termux, I’ve got a storage directory. That has my sync folder which backs up lots of stuff with SyncThing. So I wanted a way to have a link to /storage/shared/sync in ~/.

Symlinks

So I remembered symlinks (symbolic links). They make a link from one folder to another, or put a link to a file in one folder, into another folder. Pretty cool!

So, how do I get that done in Emacs? Dired! Dired is the file manager inside Emacs. So, it has a key, capital S, for making a symlink. But does it do what I want? I ran describe key (C-h k) and press S. Well, it does more of a hard, rigid, link. I like things soft. If I move the link, or the directory it points to, I don’t want it to break that easily.

So, in the help for S, there was Y, which does the softer link I wanted. Technically, it creates a relative symlink. But then how do I set the link file location? Using .., two periods. That moves up one folder. You can combine ../ to make it go back multiple folders. So, with point on my sync folder in ~/storage/shared/, I pressed Y, then ../../, then RET (return/enter). And it worked! Now all I have to do is go to ~/sync, and I’m there!

I’m testing the Microbe client for Micro blog. I got it going just now, on my phone, within Emacs within Termux within Android within a Galaxy S25 Plus. So far, it even works well with Emacspeak!

Testing again.

Testing Microblog Emacs client.