what is the use of xterm in Ubuntu?

I am bit confused as in terminal window I typed xterm in Ubuntu it simply opened new terminal window xterm but was doing the same work as the default.

And its also mentioned this terminal is for the X Window.

But when I am typing window commands its not working. What I am missing. Please guide.

3

2 Answers

The xterm package has been around since before the original days of X Window, a popular display server.

xterm doesn’t require many resources (such as memory) to operate. Because of this, the xterm package is still popular in Linux distributions designed to run on older hardware.

It can also emulate older terminals, such as VT102,VT220, and Tektronix 4014 terminals (these are the terminals used in 1980-1990's).

To emulate VT100 terminal ,simply type

xterm -ti vt100

By definition xterm is a terminal emulator for the X Window System. Since Ubuntu by default relies on X11 graphical server for any graphics - that's why xterm comes with Ubuntu. Now, unless you manually change it, both default terminal and xterm should run your bash shell, which is what actually interprets commands. Without shell, terminal emulator is basically not going to work.

xterm actually is the original terminal emulator and many modern emulators strive to emulate its functionality and extend it.

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Sign up using Google Sign up using Facebook Sign up using Email and Password Submit

Post as a guest

Post Your Answer Discard

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy