Can I run a terminal on IOS with sandboxed filesystem (w/o jailbreak)? Can I run a terminal app on IOS with a sandboxed filesystem (no jailbreak).  E.g. is there an app that allows me to locally install linux on an IOS device (without jailbreak)?

More precisely: I am not looking for an ssh client, but for a way to install locally on IOS e.g. something like homebrew, e.g. to use arbitrary programming languages or emacs or vim or latex or clojure or haskell or etc ;)

So, it would be totally fine, if such an app has its own unix-style file system and only commandline, i.e. no GUI.
Sorry to resurrect an old question. . .

I was actually browsing for info on a new iOS app that sort of does just what this question is asking about, emulates a Linux environment via a pretty slick terminal app.

It's called iSH. Still in beta but I think you can get a Testflight invite right on the homepage. 

It even has pseudo access to the Files app.

For instance, you can make a directory with mkdir, create a script with the terminal using any number of editors, and then open said script in the Files app like it were an iCloud text document in your TextEdit folder. 

But, as far as I can tell, you can not move that script directly to Dropbox, or your TextEdit folder on iCloud.

You can, however, copy and share the text via the share extension.  

Anyone else been screwing with this app?

Here's the GitHub link to the project, and they've got a Twitter and reddit, too. 

A few screenshots of the app in action on an iPad with the Files app, and without: