What's New

This version is iOS 5-compatible.

App Description

*** Please note: This app is intended for entertainment purposes only and does not provide true Linux functionality. ***

Looking for a joke to play on your friendly neighbourhood geek? Fake Linux is a parody app that lets you pretend you've installed the GNU/Linux operating system on your iPhone - messages fly by as it boots up, it attempts to start an X server (and fails, as Linux sometimes likes doing) then drops you into a command prompt where you can run a wide number of fake commands by typing on the keyboard.

Please note: Fake Linux *is not really Linux*; don't get over-excited! It's just a parody that simulates part of the Linux environment with all its quirks. Long-time Linux users will get a kick out of trying to run Emacs and getting an out of memory error, or seeing the dreaded message "Failed to start X server" in ncurses. You can "run" ls, cat, man, kill, uptime, ps, ssh, reboot, free, df and many more common Unix commands.

The question is: how long will it take for your friends to figure out it's not real? Find out for yourself - it's the perfect prank for April Fools or any time you want to wind up a Unix geek!

iPhone Screenshots

(click to enlarge)

Fake Linux screenshot 1 Fake Linux screenshot 2 Fake Linux screenshot 3 Fake Linux screenshot 4 Fake Linux screenshot 5

App Changes

  • June 09, 2014 Initial release