is xterm so bad?

ap · 2018-02-01 02:33:37

I use urxvt mostly but also xterm (for the real transparency) as a secondary terminal...I have also used many others but have now settled for these two. Online I read many times how bloated, outdated, bad etc etc xterm is, but then actually I find it pretty good in terms of the customizability it allows and the options it has. What's your opinion regarding the infamous xterm?

Head_on_a_Stick · 2018-02-01 06:52:41

I use xterm(1) as my stock terminal emulator in OpenBSD, it does absolutely everything I need at a very low overhead and it's part of their base system so it has been stripped and audited by the developers.

I have to say though that I prefer urxvt under GNU/Linux because it is lighter and more configurable than xterm.

EDIT: they're both better than terminator ofc ]:D

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2018-02-01 07:09:49)

grobister · 2018-02-01 07:10:44

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

I use xterm(1) as my stock terminal emulator in OpenBSD, it does absolutely everything I need at a very low overhead and it's part of their base system so it has been stripped and audited by the developers.

I think this is the key, xterm is fine but needs a cleanup, OpenBSD devs done similar with xdm.

ap · 2018-02-01 12:23:29

oh I didn't know about it. It would be nice to have a polished version of xterm also for linux...but still, pretty good to me...and as you said much better than terminator or gnome terminal. Also, some of the very lightweight and polished one seem to lack a lot of functionalities, an example is the case of st.

malm · 2018-02-01 16:08:13

I always use xterm. I love alt+enter.

Although transparency looks nice, I prefer a solid black background for work.

ohnonot · 2018-02-01 19:06:54

malm wrote:

I love alt+enter.

what does it do?

malm · 2018-02-01 19:18:26

Full screen.

devnull · 2018-02-08 13:52:56

I use guake since years and never found a reason to switch to other terminals. The f12 is a second nature now

Colonel Panic · 2019-10-22 20:09:55

Thread bump:

Where xterm falls down IMO is that it's difficult if not impossible to copy and paste to and from it, as opposed to, say, XFCE's terminal, and that terminal also has tabbing which xterm doesn't. I still use it quite a lot though as it's small and light on resources.

[EDIT: I've taken a tip from devnull above and just installed guake, for the first time. It's early days yet but I like the fact that it instantly toggles its appearance, hiding itself and then reappearing, on the desktop whenever F12 is passed.]

Last edited by Colonel Panic (2019-10-22 20:47:07)

cog · 2019-10-23 04:23:33

It really depends on how picky you are.

Xterm does wierd things with bold stuff and has too many lines of code for people who are concerned with that sort of thing. Other than that it’s a great emulator.

st is the perfect xterm replacement but then you have to build it every time you change something unless you patch it to read .Xresources

urxvt is a little lighter and you can get around most of xterms quirks except for its wierd font spacing.

I personally use termite and can get it to look exactly like I like and it has the standard VTE copy mechanism. It’s a lot laggy’er than xterm, st or urxvt. And it’s screwy with its term info if you ssh and admin a lot of remote machines.

The only conclusion I’ve come to is they all have their flaws. Just pick one that gets as close to your needs as possible.

ohnonot · 2019-10-23 08:41:17

Colonel Panic wrote:

Where xterm falls down IMO is that it's difficult if not impossible to copy and paste to and from it, as opposed to, say, XFCE's terminal

Doesn't the standard middleclick/shift-insert mechanism work?
I use urxvt and have no problems with that.

cog wrote:

urxvt (...) its wierd font spacing.

What is that?
It has the "ability" to use non-monospaced fonts & forces them into monospaced character blocks, which looks extremely weird, obviously.
But I always use it with Terminus and I see nothing weird there.

clusterF · 2019-10-23 13:17:58

Isn't xterms default method of copy/paste just highlighting the text (within terminal) and then keybind, [shift + insert] to paste back into terminal or even into other program like web browser or text editor?
I can copy text from say this forum thread and insert it into xterm no problem.

I use lxterminal mostly nowdays but st term with patches was pretty good, [ctrl c] copy [ctrl v] paste.

Last edited by clusterF (2019-10-23 13:25:23)

Colonel Panic · 2019-10-24 22:13:24

You're right (and ohnonot too) but I still find it (xterm) harder to use than a terminal with a file menu bar, such as konsole or the aforementioned xfce-terminal.

Maybe it's a muscle memory thing, I don't know but I seem to have trouble "holding" the text selection before I paste it somewhere. With konsole, xfce-terminal and similar terminals, I've got items in the "Edit" menu that I can click on to carry out the copying and pasting, which for me makes them easier to use.

Last edited by Colonel Panic (2019-10-24 22:18:26)

ohnonot · 2019-10-25 05:37:37

Colonel Panic wrote:

Maybe it's a muscle memory thing, I don't know but I seem to have trouble "holding" the text selection before I paste it somewhere. With konsole, xfce-terminal and similar terminals, I've got items in the "Edit" menu that I can click on to carry out the copying and pasting, which for me makes them easier to use.

You mean drag'n'drop?
Yeah I don't use that so much.
It's just an optical thing, and very mouse-dependent. Too complicated.

Colonel Panic · 2024-02-18 10:47:58

Thread bump.

For anyone who still uses xterm and is wondering how to configure it to their liking, this article provides a very useful template *which you can of course adjust to your own personal taste).

There's a similar one further down for urxvt;

https://unix4lyfe.org/xterm/

Colonel Panic · 2024-02-18 10:54:45

More about xterm from Imperial College, London, where I went for a while (different department) though I didn't manage to graduate from there;

https://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/csg-old/linux/Xterm.html

hhh · 2024-02-18 16:20:49

Hold on a minute...

Welcome @ohnonot, it's been a while.

#1 2018-02-01 02:33:37

is xterm so bad?

#2 2018-02-01 06:52:41

Re: is xterm so bad?

#3 2018-02-01 07:10:44

Re: is xterm so bad?

#4 2018-02-01 12:23:29

Re: is xterm so bad?

#5 2018-02-01 16:08:13

Re: is xterm so bad?

#6 2018-02-01 19:06:54

Re: is xterm so bad?

#7 2018-02-01 19:18:26

Re: is xterm so bad?

#8 2018-02-08 13:52:56

Re: is xterm so bad?

#9 2019-10-22 20:09:55

Re: is xterm so bad?

#10 2019-10-23 04:23:33

Re: is xterm so bad?

#11 2019-10-23 08:41:17

Re: is xterm so bad?

#12 2019-10-23 13:17:58

Re: is xterm so bad?

#13 2019-10-24 22:13:24

Re: is xterm so bad?

#14 2019-10-25 05:37:37

Re: is xterm so bad?

#15 2024-02-18 10:47:58

Re: is xterm so bad?

#16 2024-02-18 10:54:45

Re: is xterm so bad?

#17 2024-02-18 16:20:49

Re: is xterm so bad?

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