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For a quick attempt to install a terminal see
Quick Install.
Copyright
Copyright 1998-2004 by David S. Lawyer.
mailto:dave@lafn.org
Please freely copy and distribute (sell or give away) this document
in any format. Send any corrections and comments to the document
maintainer. You may create a derivative work and distribute it
provided that you:
- If it's not a translation: Email a copy of your derivative work
(in a format LDP accepts) to the author(s) and maintainer (could be
the same person). If you don't get a response then email the LDP
(Linux Documentation Project): submit@en.tldp.org.
- License the derivative work in the spirit of this license or use
GPL. Include a copyright notice and at least a pointer to the
license used.
- Give due credit to previous authors and major contributors.
If you're considering making a derived work other than a
translation, it's requested that you discuss your plans with the
current maintainer.
Disclaimer
While I haven't intentionally tried to mislead you, there are
likely a number of errors in this document. Please let me know about
them. Since this is free documentation, it should be obvious that I
cannot be held legally responsible for any errors.
Trademarks.
Any brand names (starts with a capital letter such as MS Windows)
should be assumed to be a trademark). Such trademarks belong to their
respective owners.
Credits
Much of the section "Physical Connection" is from Serial-HOWTO v.
1.11 (1997) by Greg Hankins (with his permission). His "How Do I Set
Up A Terminal Connected To My PC?" was incorporated into v1.00 at
various places. v1.09 has about 25 changes (and error corrections)
suggested by Alessandro Rubini who reviewed this HOWTO. Jeremy Jon
Spykerman told me about using a keyboardless terminal as a console for
a monitorless PC (using ttysnoop). In 2001 (v1.26) I fixed about 25
typos, etc. found by Alain Cochard:
Please let me know of any errors in facts, opinions, logic,
spelling, grammar, clarity, links, etc. But first, if the date is
over a few months old, check to see that you have the latest version.
Please send me any info that you think belongs in this document.
Starting with version 1.00, a first attempt was made to help people
set up terminals without recourse to a terminal manual. Much more is
needed in this respect. One way to solve this problem would be for
more terminal manufacturers put their manuals on the Internet. Wyse
has already done so. I suggest that you encourage others to do so (if
they haven't already). The task of providing information on how to
configure most terminals in this HOWTO is daunting. There are so many
different terminals, but there are far fewer models than there used to
be in the 1980,s so the task is not totally infeasible.
Please send me any surplus terminal manuals which you may have,
especially on terminals made within the past 10 years (but I'll
accept older ones also). Also, you might want to write up something
on a certain terminal to put in the Appendix D: Notes by Brand Name.
New versions of the Text-Terminal-HOWTO should be released every
year or so. They will be available to browse and/or download at
LDP mirror sites. For a list of mirror sites see:
http://tldp.org/mirrors.html. Various formats are
available. If you only want to quickly check the date of the latest
version look at
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Text-Terminal-HOWTO.html. The
version your are currently reading is: v1.39, August 2006 .
For a full revision history going back to the first version in
1998 see the source file (in linuxdoc format) at
http://cvsview.tldp.org/index.cgi/LDP/howto/linuxdoc/Text-Terminal-HOWTO.sgml and click on text.
- v1.39 Aug. 2006 Typo your -> you're; Termcap Manual = Termcap
Library; Fixed several broken links. Found link to mapchan program.
- v1.38 Feb. 2006 Fixed typos "the the"
- v1.37 Feb. 2006 "file-transfer" cables, typo: VT012=>VT102, url to
Text-Terminal source fixed, not revised every few months anymore,
edited key cleaning
- v1.36 Aug. 2004 Typo for "quit", etc. Should be ^\
- v1.35 Mar. 2004: Wyse 60 emulator
Go to the nearest mirror site (per above) to get HOWTOs.
- Serial-HOWTO has info on Multiport Serial Cards used for both
terminals and banks of modems. It has general technical info on the
serial port including troubleshooting it.
-
Low-Level Terminal Interface part of "GNU C Library Reference
Manual" (in libc (or glibc) docs package). It covers the detailed
meaning of "stty" commands, etc.
- NCURSES-Programming-HOWTO
- MacTerminal mini-HOWTO
- Modem-HOWTO
- Serial-Programming-HOWTO
- NC mini-HOWTO
- NCD-X-Terminal mini-HOWTO
- XDM-and-X-Terminal mini-HOWTO
- Connecting-X-Terminals-to-Linux-Mini-HOWTO
- NCD-HOWTO
- Thinclient-HOWTO
- Xterminals-HOWTO
- Xterm-Title-HOWTO (only for changing the title of a window)
Configuration means the same as set-up. While Linux commands take
options (using - or -- symbols), options in a broader sense include
various other types of choices. Install in the broad sense includes
setting up (configuring) software and hardware. A statement that I
suspect is true (but may not be) ends with 2 question marks: ?? If
you know for sure, let me know.
A real terminal consists of a screen and keyboard that one uses to
communicate remotely with a (host) computer. One uses it just like it
was a personal computer but the terminal is remote from its host
computer (on the other side of the room or even on the other side of
the world). Programs execute on the host computer but the results
display on the terminal screen. The terminal's computational ability
is relatively low (otherwise it would be a computer and not a
terminal). The terminal is generally limited to the ability to
display what is sent to it (possibly including full-screen graphics)
and the ability to send to the host what is typed at the keyboard.
A text-terminal only displays text on the screen without pictures. In
the days of mainframes from the mid 1970's to the mid 1980's, most
people used real text-terminals to communicate with computers. They
typed in programs, ran programs, wrote documents, issued printing
commands, etc. A cable connected the terminal to the computer (often
indirectly). It was called a terminal since it was located at the
terminal end of this cable. Some text-terminals were called "graphic"
but the resolution was poor and the speed slow by today's standards
due to the high cost of memory and the limited speed of the
conventional serial port, etc.
Today, real terminals are not as common as they once were and most
people that use terminals use a personal computer to emulate a
terminal. Almost everyone who uses Linux uses terminal emulation.
Without X Window, one uses a text interface (virtual terminal). It's
also called a command line interface. In X Window one can get one or
more terminal windows (xterm, rxvt, or zterm). All these use software
to emulate a real terminal.
A real text-terminal is different from a monitor because it's a different
electronic setup. A text terminal is often connected to a serial port
of the computer via a long cable. Thus, in contrast to a monitor
which is usually located right next to the computer, a terminal may be
quite a distance away from its host computer. For a monitor, the
video card inside a computer stores the video image. For a terminal,
the equivalent of this video card is built right into the terminal but
since text terminals are often monochrome without much graphics, the
capabilities of its "video card" are rather weak. Also, most text
terminals do not have mice.
In network client-server terminology, one might think that the
terminal is the client and that the host computer is the server. The
terminal has been called a "thin client" by some. But it is not
actually a "client" nor is the host a "server". The only "service"
the host provides is to receive every letter typed at the keyboard and
react to this just like a computer would. The terminal is like a
window into the computer just like a monitor (and keyboard) are. You
may have already used virtual terminals in Linux (by pressing Left
Alt-F2, etc.). A real terminal is just like running such a virtual
terminal but you run it on its own terminal screen instead of having
to share the monitor screen. In contrast to using a virtual terminal
at the console (monitor), this allows another person to sit at a
terminal and use the computer simultaneously with others.
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