Once the command is launched, we will be presented with a shell prompt. We can start using GNU screen by simply entering the screen command at the shell prompt. Though it is rarely installed by default, it is available in most distribution repositories as the package “screen”. AvailabilityĪs its name implies, GNU screen is part of the GNU Project. First developed in 1987, screen appears to be the first program of its type and it defined the basic feature set found in all subsequent terminal multiplexers. While modern desktop environments and terminal emulator programs support multiple windows and tabbed terminal sessions, which mitigate the need of terminal multiplexers for some purposes, terminal multiplexers still offer some features that will greatly enhance our command-line experience. A terminal multiplexer allows multiple sessions and applications to be displayed and managed on a single screen. Terminal multiplexers were originally developed to help address this limitation. However, unlike today, the computer terminal of the 1980s did not have multiple windows or tabs to display multiple applications or shell sessions. On the display screen there might be a shell prompt not unlike the prompt we see today during a Linux terminal session. If we were to go back in time to say, the mid-1980s, we might find ourselves staring at a computer terminal a box with an 80-column wide, 24-line high display and a keyboard connected to a shared, central Unix computer via an RS-232 serial connection and, possibly, an acoustic-coupler modem and a telephone handset. In this adventure, we will look at three examples: GNU screen, tmux, and byobu. Terminal multiplexers are programs that can perform these amazing feats. In short, we need a terminal multiplexer. We need to move a running terminal session from one computer to another. We need to display more than one application in a single terminal. We need to have multiple shell sessions running in a single terminal.

After all, modern terminal emulators like gnome-terminal, konsole, and the others included with Linux desktop environments are feature-rich applications that satisfy most of our needs. It’s easy to take the terminal for granted. Previous | Contents | Next Terminal Multiplexers

List of commands for terminal emulator