Turbo-charge your command-line workflow with Tmux
Tutorials – Tmux
Operate multiple terminal sessions in a single window.
Unless you're some kind of hard-core raw X Window System user who doesn't need to resize or move around any of your applications, chances are that you're running a window manager of some sort. This may be a standalone window manager like Fluxbox, a tiling variant like i3, or perhaps one that's part of a larger desktop environment, such as Xfce, KDE, or Gnome. Window managers are one of the most essential tools for our work – but can they actually be used in text mode?
Well, yes. It might sound a bit weird at first, given that the command line is all about typing and viewing text and doesn't have the same requirements as a pointy-clicky, frill-laden desktop environment. But consider the typical work you do at a Bash prompt: Do you have a single terminal running at maximum screen resolution? Unless you're still rocking a netbook, chances are you have multiple terminals in action at any one point, using your window manager to organize them.
Now, imagine you could leave your window manager out of this and do the work of organizing different sessions inside a single terminal window. This is what Tmux, the "terminal multiplexer" does – and it does it very well [1]. With Tmux, you effectively have a text-mode window manager available at the command line, so you can create different views (e.g., with a big main command-line view for your day-to-day work and smaller views next to it for monitoring logs or IRC channels).
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Advanced Video Coding Still Under Patent
Brazilian patent BRPI0109962B1 has expired, which means that DivX and Xvid are no longer problematic for Linux, but it doesn’t mean that video is all of a sudden fully unleashed.
-
2,000 Vulnerabilities per Linux Release
Thanks to AI bug hunters, the Linux kernel is seeing record numbers of vulnerabilities, and it's overwhelming developers.
-
Linux Exempt from California’s Age Verification Law
So long as Linux is distributed under the GPL, MIT, BSD, and Apache licenses, the OS is exempt from being required to verify the age of its users in California.
-
Roll Out the Cake: Linux Turns 35
35 years ago, a Finnish student began a humble project that would forever change the course of technology.
-
China Switching from Windows to Linux
China has ordered several government agencies to drop a Chinese-developed version of Windows 10 in favor of either KylinOS or UOS.
-
Pine64 Halts Production of Linux Devices
With continued DRAM and eMMC shortages, Pine64 has decided to discontinue production of Linux devices.
-
The Bullet-Proof KDE Software Initiative Is Coming
KDE, Techpaladin, and Kubuntu Focus have announced a new initiative that will provide at least three years of support for KDE Plasma 6.6 LTS and related software.
-
Linux Mint Shares a Possible Kernel Cleanup Solution
For those on Linux Mint who like to keep multiple kernels around but don't want them to take up too much space, you might be getting a new automated tool.
-
CachyOS Gets an Update
CachyOS August 2026 release is now available with the latest version of KDE, some new features, and plenty of improvements.
-
The Linux Kernel Dev Staging Area Now Rejects AI-Generated Patches
Unless a kernel patch is a valid security fix, it will be rejected if it was created using AI.
