hx VS tmux

hx a vim-like hex editor in your terminal. It's amazing, and i use it all the time.

hx - hex editor

My Hex editor 'hx' . It started as a learning project but actually grew into something useful :D

This. To add some words why this is important:

Given the remote-first container-based world we're heading towards, decoupling UI (terminal emulator) from its state (tmux, code-server) is a great design decision, which I think will ultimately define what the "next generation" of terminal emulators is. Imagine being able to open tabs directly on remote host, reconnect without losing state, etc, all while using native UI (so Cmd+T to open new tab, Cmd+F to search, etc). Productivity game changer, which currently only the iTerm2 users can fully enjoy.

Ptyxis (putting its state in running containers), WezTerm (native handling of ssh sessions) and VSCode's terminal (starting a proprietary code-server binary and connecting to its TCP port) have reached some of this functionality, but in their design they need some out-of-band mechanisms to do their magic, ultimately limiting the scenarios they can handle.

Meanwhile tmux -CC [0] and ht [1] are sending both their control channel and data channel over the opened terminal itself (in-band), making them flexible enough to support any configuration. Something complex like `ssh jumpbox -- ssh prod -- podman exec -it prod /bin/bash -- tmux -CC` should just work.

[0] https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki/Control-Mode

[1] https://github.com/andyk/ht

What is tmux?

This also gave me the chance to learn how to use Tmux. Best tool I've learned in a while.

To keep it running in the background we can use tmux

tmux is a powerful terminal multiplexer that enhances productivity by allowing session persistence, window and pane management, and customization through key bindings and configuration files. It supports scripting for automation, facilitates collaboration with shared sessions, and integrates well with various shells and tools.

Tmux

Configure the frontend Open up a new terminal. P.S. We can split the terminal session using tmux or run it as a system service, but to keep things fairly simple, we would leave the backend running in one terminal and open another terminal for the frontend.

I have been using tmux for a while now. It was really worth it, especially after I started using neovim. One thing was really missing though compared to my previous setup and that was opening URLs. I always used my mouse to do that, but now I couldn't even do that because I am using the good old xterm as a terminal which doesn't have a built in feature like that.

If the cursor is located on a number, the shortcuts +a and +x increments/decrements that number. Not only do I not have any use for this behaviour, +a is also used to control tmux, which I normally use together with neovim.