Text-Terminal-HOWTO: Introduction 1. IntroductionFor a quick attempt to install a terminal see Quick Install.1.1 Copyright, Trademarks, Disclaimer, & Credits CopyrightCopyright 1998 by David S. Lawyer. Please freely copy and distribute (sell or give away) this document. Derivative works are permitted provided you: 1. Make a good faith effort to insure that a copy (including any master copy) gets on the Internet at an appropriate site for free downloading. 2. License the work in the spirit of this license, or use GPL (Free Software Foundation) 3. Make a good faith effort to contact the maintainer (or principal copyright owners if there is no maintainer) to let them know what you have done. If the changes are extensive, then you should also attempt to make more such contacts before and possibly during your project. 4. Give full credit to significant previous authors and contributors although the credits section need not exceed 1% of the length of the document.TrademarksIf certain words are trademarks, the context should make it clear to whom they belong. For example "MS Windows NT" implies that "Windows NT" belongs to Microsoft (MS). Mac is by Apple Computer. Trademarks belong to their respective owners.DisclaimerMuch of the info in this HOWTO was obtained from the Internet, obsolete manuals, etc. and may be unreliable (although I've done some double checking in some cases). 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.CreditsMost of chapter 8 from Serial-HOWTO v. 1.11 by Greg Hankins entitled: "How Do I Set Up A Terminal Connected To My PC?" was incorporated into version 1.00 at various places. The portions not incorporated were on topics already covered in my previous version v0.05.1.2 Future Plans: You Can HelpPlease 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 if terminal manufacturers put their manuals on the Internet. I suggest that you encourage them to do so. 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. My email in 1998 is mailto:[e-mail].1.3 New Versions of this HOWTONew versions of the Text-Terminal-HOWTO will be available to browse and/or download at LDP mirror sites. For a list of such sites see: http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/mirrors.html When you get to a a nearby mirror site, click on "Linux Documentation Project" (LDP) and then search for the 2nd occurrence of "HOWTO". Various formats are available. If you only want to quickly check the date of the latest version (please don't spend a long time browsing there --you should browse at your nearest mirror site) go to: http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Text-Terminal-HOWTO.html.1.4 Related HOWTO'sSerial-HOWTO has info on Multiport Serial Cards used for both terminals and banks of modems. Technical info on the serial port will appear in the next revision of it (with less serial technical info in this HOWTO).Modem-HOWTO (to be released in Oct. 1998)Serial-Programming-HOWTOXterminal-HOWTO (unmaintained). It's at http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/unmaintained/mini/Xterminal1.5 Terminology Used in this DocumentConfiguration means the same as set-up. While Linux commands take options (using - 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.1.6 What is a Terminal ?A 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 the 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. Its computational ability is relatively low (otherwise it would be a computer and not a terminal). This computational ability 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.In the days of mainframes from the mid 1970's to the mid 1980's, most people used 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.If you've been using Linux (except for X-Window use) with a computer monitor and keyboard you already know what a terminal is because you have been using one (or more precisely a "virtual terminal"). The monitor (along with the keyboard) is called the console, but it emulates a terminal. In X-Windows: xterm, rxvt, and zterm emulate terminals.A real 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. The video card inside a computer stores the video image seen on the monitor screen. 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. This is not actually true since 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 Alt-F2, etc.). A real terminal is just like running such a virtual terminal on its own screen and keyboard. In contrast to using a virtual terminal at the console (monitor), this allows another person to sit at the real terminal and use the computer simultaneously with others. u