How do you set up your terminal?

Not_OlesNot_Oles Hosting ProviderContent Writer
in LES Talk

I think I want a really peaceful, retro green terminal like the above screenshot.

I recently installed and wrote about vscodium and code-server, but vscodium, although super great, is not retro green.

In the retro green terminal, there is a peaceful, non-distracting, empty space into which I can load whatever I am working on at the moment. Any one of several editors plus a vast array of command line tools can be used instantly.

In addition to the command line tools, dot files and dot directories can be used keep everything arranged, close by, yet out of the way. Right now I use one dot file and two dot directories.

My dot file is .tlog, which is a simple text file with dates, log entries, comments, and terminal commands transcribed along with their output.

My two dot directories are .current and .attic. The first, .current, is where I keep individual files and project directories on which I currently am working, although not at the precise present moment. The second, .attic, is where I keep files and projects on which I am not currently working, but which I think I might need or want to see again before too long.

Once a new project hits .current or moves from .current to .attic, I still can go work on it there. Its not like I have to move the project back to my home directory in order to edit a file.

As a simple workflow example, here is me working on this post, comments added.

root@tx:~# su - tom # Logging in as root saves me from typing sudo a million times as day. 
tom@tx:~$ date # I need to remind myself of the date in order to add the date to the log.
Mon Oct 27 05:16:31 PM UTC 2025
tom@tx:~$ vi .tlog # Starting todays log entries. 
tom@tx:~$ cp -p .tlog .tlog~ # Local quick backup, just in case.
tom@tx:~$ vi How-do-you-set-up-your-terminal # Write todays post.j 
tom@tx:~$ ls # Does the post exist in my home directory?
How-do-you-set-up-your-terminal # Yes!
tom@tx:~$ vi .tlog # Add log entry for this post.
tom@tx:~$ ls .current/ # Not much yet on the new Texas server.
tom@tx:~$ mv How-do-you-set-up-your-terminal .current/ # Move the draft to the .current directory.
tom@tx:~$ clear # Restore the peacefulness of the clean view of my home directory.

The green color I am using is #00ED00, which reminds me of the IBM 5151 that I used to use.

For backup, I mirror my /home/tom directory on another server from a different provider. I can log in to either mirror and begin working right away. In addition to mirroring, I keep tar backups at a third provider and also on a local disk.

The biggest disadvantage of my retro green setup might be that it is stuck in time. I loved and lost the infinite scrollback from the slightly earlier days of paper terminals. Also, perhaps my love of retro green keeps me from embracing many advantages of newer terminal setups?

How do you set up your terminal? Can you convince me, almost 78 years old now, to move forward in time, to become young again?

I hope everyone gets the servers they want!

Comments

Sign In or Register to comment.

© LowEndSpirit 2025

ipv6 ready