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This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009) |
 GNU Screen with split-screen |
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| Developer(s) | GNU Project |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1987 |
| Stable release | 4.0.3 (2008-08-08) [+/−] |
| Preview release | none [+/−] |
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | Unix-like |
| Available in | ? |
| Type | Command line interface |
| License | GPL |
| Website | www.gnu.org/software/screen |
GNU Screen is a free terminal multiplexer that allows a user to access multiple separate terminal sessions inside a single terminal window or remote terminal session. It is useful for dealing with multiple programs from the command line, and for separating programs from the shell that started the program.
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Features
GNU Screen can be thought of as a text version of graphical window managers, or as a way of putting virtual terminals into any login session. It is a wrapper that allows multiple text programs to run at the same time, and provides features that allow the user to use the programs within a single interface productively.
- Persistence
- Similar to VNC, GNU Screen allows the user to start applications from one computer, and then reconnect from a different computer and continue using the same application without having to restart it. This makes migration between locations like work and home simple. Screen provides terminal-agnostic functionality so that users can disconnect and reconnect using different terminal types, allowing applications to continue running without being aware of the change in terminals.
- Multiple windows
- Multiple terminal sessions can be created, each of which usually runs a single application. The windows are numbered, and the user can use the keyboard to switch between them. Some GUI terminal emulators provide tabs or otherwise similar functionality to this. Each window has its own scroll-back buffer, so that output is captured even when the window isn't actively displayed, and that history can be saved even when migrating to another computer. Windows can be split-screened. While some text applications have this functionality built in, Screen allows any application to be split-screened alongside any number of other applications.
- Session Sharing
- Screen allows multiple computers to connect to the same session at once, allowing collaboration between multiple users. The same computer can also be used to make multiple simultaneous connections, providing alternative functionality to screen-splitting, particularly for computers with multiple monitors.
History
screen was originally designed by Oliver Laumann and Carsten Bormann and published in 1987[1]. Design criteria included faithful VT100 emulation (including ANSI X3.64 (ISO 6429) and ISO 2022) and reasonable performance for heavy daily use when character-based terminals were still common. Later, the at-the-time novel feature of disconnection/reattachment was added. Ca. 1990 Oliver Laumann handed over maintenance of the code to Jürgen Weigert and Michael Schroeder at Universität Erlangen, who later moved the project to the GNU Project and added features such as split-screen, cut-and-paste, and screen-sharing.[2]
Other terminal multiplexers
Other text-mode multiplexers exist with similar functionality. These include:
- Text windows (Twin) — a textmode windowing environment
See also
- Ratpoison — a mouseless window manager inspired by Screen
- StumpWM — successor of Ratpoison written in Common Lisp
Other text-mode multiplexers exist with similar functionality. These include:
- splitvt — split terminal utility
- Text windows (Twin) — a textmode windowing environment
- dvtm - Tiling window management for the console
- tmux - a modern, BSD-licensed alternative to programs such as GNU screen.
References
- ^ (1987-03-20). "BSD screen manager -- Part 1 of 2 - (nf)". net.sources. (Web link). Retrieved on 2009-06-11.
- ^ screen ftp
External links
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