It's only been 17 years, but developers can finally stop finding workarounds for running Linux on Android devices. Google is working on official support for Debian Linux on Android through a new Terminal app. Imagine running Android Studio directly on your Android tablet!
The work on the Terminal app was discovered hidden within the Android Open Source Project (via Android Authority). It appears Google engineers are actively developing a Terminal app that leverages the Android Virtualization Framework (AVF) to run a Debian virtual machine. It will allow users to execute Linux commands within a contained environment on Android devices.