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Make tmux pretty and usable (2024)

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Re: Make tmux pretty and usable (2024)

#21

Post by azthecx »

nDRDY wrote: post #10
llagerlof wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used tmux for a few years, until one day I discovered Zellij. With its significantly better UI and overall user experience, I was instantly convinced.

This comment would be a lot more convincing if it weren't in response to one expressing the same sentiment :-)

It is actually true though, I only use tmux nowadays when I am SSHed into a server that I need to do some work on.

The only issues I've had with it is that sometimes it's hot keys conflict with vim, but you can easily turn it temporarily off with ctrl+ g.

If you're already used to tmux I'm not sure you would benefit much from changing, but it definitely has a better out of the box with pane hints, names, and more user friendly hot keys.

Re: Make tmux pretty and usable (2024)

#22

Post by stebalien »

jimbokun wrote: post #15

Any guides for tmux configuration that works well with Emacs? The use of Ctrl and Meta for basic operations conflicts with a lot of Emacs commands.

My experience is that Emacs wants to be your everything, and works best if you let it. Have you tried putting your terminals inside of Emacs instead of the other way around?

* If you need a "real" terminal emulator, you can use something like vterm (https://github.com/akermu/emacs-libvterm/).

* If you need to be able to attach/detach Emacs sessions on remote machines, you can use something like dtach or abducto (https://www.brain-dump.org/projects/abduco/).

Re: Make tmux pretty and usable (2024)

#23

Post by kjs3 »

knubie wrote: post #13

I stopped using tmux when I started using kitty terminal with native split windows. I prefer the native window management of kitty, but I do miss the session saving of tmux (e.g. if I accidentally close a tab).

but I do miss the session saving of tmux

Interesting...I kinda thought that was 90% of the use case for using tmux.

Re: Make tmux pretty and usable (2024)

#24

Post by dummydummy1234 »

llagerlof wrote: post #6
ndr wrote: post #3

I gave up on it once I discovered https://zellij.dev/ Just even for how tab and panes are setup, and how it's good for scrolling and text selection with your mouse for copy pasting.

I used tmux for a few years, until one day I discovered Zellij. With its significantly better UI and overall user experience, I was instantly convinced.

Can you use zellij over ssh on a remote server?

Re: Make tmux pretty and usable (2024)

#25

Post by 0xbadcafebee »

orbital-decay wrote: post #16
knubie wrote: post #13

I stopped using tmux when I started using kitty terminal with native split windows. I prefer the native window management of kitty, but I do miss the session saving of tmux (e.g. if I accidentally close a tab).

There are many separate session persistence daemons: dtach, zmx, hauntty, shpool, diss, abduco - take your pick

screen's another nice one. been using it for 25 years, so far so good

Re: Make tmux pretty and usable (2024)

#26

Post by stonecharioteer »

tosti wrote: post #12

I like having a red bar for tmux running as root and a blue one for running it as a normal user, e.g. for root: set -g status-style "bg=red" I also like to have the bar on top and the status centered: set -g status-justify absolute-centre set -g status-position top

I change the color of the bar in every server I've set it up so I know absolutely where I am.

Re: Make tmux pretty and usable (2024)

#28

Post by strogonoff »

There’s many ways tmux could be used, but when it is part of IDE the most important usability tweaks that make tmux rock for me personally are:

— session configuration save/recall (with pane layout for each tab and directory for each pane[0]),

— nvim integration (for seamless split navigation and so that I can create or reattach to a tmux session in an nvim float, even though that nvim usually runs inside tmux),

— a bind to force-reload a pane if (when!) a command hangs.

For switching between tabs, I find that the ideal bind is simply Cmd + pane number. There’s never more than ten tabs that I’d often want to switch to within a single session. The highest number is probably four tabs. Each tab is typically assigned a high-level part of the project.

[0] I always forget what terminology a given multiplexer uses, so let’s just call them “panes” and “tabs”.

Re: Make tmux pretty and usable (2024)

#29

Post by traderj0e »

I've always written my code in vim and preferred CLIs in general, but I really want a GUI for the terminal itself, including tmux. iTerm2 makes it nice for example, even if it's only to use the meta/super key instead of the heavily overloaded control.

Re: Make tmux pretty and usable (2024)

#30

Post by hesdeadjim »

ndr wrote: post #3

I gave up on it once I discovered https://zellij.dev/ Just even for how tab and panes are setup, and how it's good for scrolling and text selection with your mouse for copy pasting.

100%. Tmux didn’t click for me but Zellij did within 5 minutes. Lifelong Vim user so it felt a lot more familiar.
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