Re: tmux panes

In all that time, I was aware that you could do multiple panes within a tab, but I could never work out why you'd want to.

I started out using GNU screen back in the mid 90's when I first started running Linux. I eventually jumped ship to tmux when it came out in 2007. I've burned the paned terminal keybindings into my muscle memory. So much so that sitting at someone else's terminal causes me a little struggle. I've also been the tech person running on old hardware. Screens too small, systems too slow. So when I'm running a *nix box its rarely in X11 unless I need to do something web related. Terminal mode is my default.

When I run tmux I have multiple windows open, and labeled with the task I'm performing. `C-b a` and then `C-b ,` happens without my brain even thinking about it. Same goes for splitting and resizing panes. I might be editing some code and know I'm going to run unit tests and the tiny window at the bottom of neovim just isn't big enough to really see what is going on so I split vertically and resize to 75/25. Or I might be trying to resolve some process issue so I want a small terminal at the bottom while running htop in the top pane. Maybe you need to `tail -f` a log file while you work on something and you only need a few lines to see.

A lot of what the "solutions" I have in tmux are just creating a setup that mimics what a full fledged app would do. Being able to cluster a few cli and tui apps into one window gives me the feature I'm looking for. And after 30 years of doing it I honestly don't think about it too much. That is unless I'm on someone else's computer that is missing all that tmux goodness.

$ tags: tmux, terminal $

$ published: 2025-07-15 20:14 $

-- CC-BY-4.0 jecxjo 2025-07-15