4 ms·

"We don't necessarily need a reason to build new things." But tmux isn't new Is a reason necessarily needed to rewrite software in other languages

fragmede 1y ago
GNU screen would like a word.
- magarnicle 1y ago
  I really don't know how tmux got so much mindshare over screen. It just isn't obviously better in any way. Maybe screen is just poorly named?
  - usef- 1y ago
    I think a lot of it is that tmux had friendler, sane defaults and clearer command design (eg. status bar out of the box). And, I suspect, people not already knowing screen. The latter reason is why Helix is slow in doing similar to vim, I think, despite being far more consistently designed and saner defaults. Everyone knows vim exists. I've still never switched from screen, personally, though I'm only a light user.
    - quotemstr 1y ago
      > status bar out of the box Software packages win over other packages for the silliest reasons.
      - vaylian 1y ago
        Defaults matter. I've had my screenrc with a status line but I still ended up preferring tmux in the end, because not needing a config file was a small but pleasant advantage when working with different machines. I also didn't like ctrl+a as the leader combination, because it conflicts with "go to the beginning of the line" in bash. ctrl+b is a much nicer default.
      - Mawr 1y ago
        The status bar displays key information to the user. Do you think people would prefer a video player with no play/pause, volume, seekbar or one with them? The interface is the most important part of any application.
  - telotortium 1y ago
    Screen couldn’t do vertical splits for the longest time. That started to be a bigger problem when screens got bigger and wider. I believe that’s why I started using tmux. Tmux also has more facilities for automation. Nowadays, screen is primarily in maintenance mode, and I’m used to tmux, so no reason to switch back.
    - unixhero 1y ago
      Tmux for a lot of things, including scripts Screen for when I need things ti behave and work a certain way
  - tremon 1y ago
    There's two things that made me switch from tmux to screen: - persistence of layouts. Screen doesn't remember if you had a split view open, it always opens the current terminal in full screen. - screen's default hotkey ^A clashes with ssh's escape key. Yes, these are configurable but having to re-populate the same config file is like a papercut every time to access a new system. Defaults matter, especially if you work across many different systems (and from different customers). At some point, it just becomes easier to learn the defaults than to (over-)optimize to your ideal workflow.
- lproven 1y ago
  > GNU screen would like a word. Screen, tmux, byobu, dvtm, mtm, Twin, and most of all Zellij, which is basically "tmux but redone in Rust". I tried to compare them all a month ago: https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/24/tiling_multiplexers_survey/ https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/24/tiling_multiplexers_s...

fragmede 1y ago

GNU screen would like a word.

magarnicle 1y ago
I really don't know how tmux got so much mindshare over screen. It just isn't obviously better in any way. Maybe screen is just poorly named?
- usef- 1y ago
  I think a lot of it is that tmux had friendler, sane defaults and clearer command design (eg. status bar out of the box). And, I suspect, people not already knowing screen. The latter reason is why Helix is slow in doing similar to vim, I think, despite being far more consistently designed and saner defaults. Everyone knows vim exists. I've still never switched from screen, personally, though I'm only a light user.
  - quotemstr 1y ago
    > status bar out of the box Software packages win over other packages for the silliest reasons.
    - vaylian 1y ago
      Defaults matter. I've had my screenrc with a status line but I still ended up preferring tmux in the end, because not needing a config file was a small but pleasant advantage when working with different machines. I also didn't like ctrl+a as the leader combination, because it conflicts with "go to the beginning of the line" in bash. ctrl+b is a much nicer default.
    - Mawr 1y ago
      The status bar displays key information to the user. Do you think people would prefer a video player with no play/pause, volume, seekbar or one with them? The interface is the most important part of any application.
- telotortium 1y ago
  Screen couldn’t do vertical splits for the longest time. That started to be a bigger problem when screens got bigger and wider. I believe that’s why I started using tmux. Tmux also has more facilities for automation. Nowadays, screen is primarily in maintenance mode, and I’m used to tmux, so no reason to switch back.
  - unixhero 1y ago
    Tmux for a lot of things, including scripts Screen for when I need things ti behave and work a certain way
- tremon 1y ago
  There's two things that made me switch from tmux to screen: - persistence of layouts. Screen doesn't remember if you had a split view open, it always opens the current terminal in full screen. - screen's default hotkey ^A clashes with ssh's escape key. Yes, these are configurable but having to re-populate the same config file is like a papercut every time to access a new system. Defaults matter, especially if you work across many different systems (and from different customers). At some point, it just becomes easier to learn the defaults than to (over-)optimize to your ideal workflow.
lproven 1y ago
> GNU screen would like a word. Screen, tmux, byobu, dvtm, mtm, Twin, and most of all Zellij, which is basically "tmux but redone in Rust". I tried to compare them all a month ago: https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/24/tiling_multiplexers_survey/ https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/24/tiling_multiplexers_s...