term39 0.7.0

A modern, retro-styled terminal multiplexer inspired by Norton Disk Doctor (MS-DOS)
term39-0.7.0 is not a library.

TERM39

CI Release License: MIT Rust Version

A modern, retro-styled terminal multiplexer inspired by Norton Disk Doctor (MS-DOS), built with Rust. TERM39 brings the classic DOS aesthetic to your terminal with a full-screen text-based interface, window management, and terminal emulation.

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Screenshot

TERM39 in action

Features

  • Retro DOS Aesthetic: Classic blue-and-white color scheme with box-drawing characters
  • Multiple Terminal Windows: Create, manage, and switch between multiple terminal sessions
  • Window Management: Drag, resize, minimize, and maximize windows with mouse or keyboard
  • Tiling Windows: Automatic window tiling and layout management
  • Snap Corners: Snap windows to screen corners for quick positioning
  • Clipboard Support: Full copy/paste functionality with system clipboard integration
    • Mouse drag to select text in terminals
    • Ctrl+Shift+C to copy, Ctrl+Shift+V to paste
    • Right-click context menu for clipboard operations
    • Top bar buttons for quick clipboard access
  • Customizable Themes: Multiple built-in color schemes
    • Classic (default DOS blue/cyan), Dark (Dracula-inspired), Monochrome (grayscale)
    • Green Phosphor (classic green terminal), Amber (vintage amber terminal)
    • Select via --theme flag or settings window
  • Configuration System: Persistent settings with auto-tiling and UI customization options
  • Double-Buffered Rendering: Smooth, flicker-free display at ~60fps
  • Cross-Platform: Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows
  • Linux Framebuffer Mode (Experimental): Direct console rendering with DOS-like text modes
    • Pixel-perfect rendering on Linux console (TTY) via /dev/fb0
    • Text modes: 40x25, 80x25, 80x43, 80x50 (like classic DOS)
    • Requires compile-time --features framebuffer-backend flag
    • Authentic VGA 16-color palette and PSF2 bitmap fonts
    • Unifont support for comprehensive Unicode character coverage
    • Hardware mouse cursor rendering with pixel-accurate positioning
    • Raw mouse input from /dev/input/mice and /dev/input/event* devices
  • ASCII Compatibility Mode: Optional --ascii flag for maximum terminal compatibility
  • Full Terminal Emulation: Complete VT100/ANSI escape sequence support with true color
  • Mouse & Keyboard Support: Intuitive interface with both input methods
  • GPM Support: Native mouse support in Linux virtual consoles (TTY)

Installation

From crates.io (Recommended)

The easiest way to install TERM39 is via cargo:

# Standard installation (terminal backend)
cargo install term39

# Linux with framebuffer support (requires Linux console/TTY)
cargo install term39 --features framebuffer-backend

The framebuffer backend enables:

  • Direct /dev/fb0 rendering on Linux console
  • DOS-like text modes (40x25, 80x25, 80x43, 80x50)
  • Hardware mouse cursor rendering
  • Unifont support for comprehensive Unicode coverage

Requires Rust to be installed. Install Rust

Linux Packages

Debian/Ubuntu (and derivatives)

Download and install the .deb package from the Releases page:

# x86_64 (amd64)
sudo dpkg -i term39_*_amd64.deb
# or
sudo apt install ./term39_*_amd64.deb

# ARM64 (aarch64)
sudo dpkg -i term39_*_arm64.deb
# or
sudo apt install ./term39_*_arm64.deb

Fedora/RHEL/CentOS/openSUSE

Download and install the .rpm package from the Releases page:

# x86_64
sudo rpm -i term39-*.x86_64.rpm
# or
sudo dnf install term39-*.x86_64.rpm

# ARM64 (aarch64)
sudo rpm -i term39-*.aarch64.rpm
# or
sudo dnf install term39-*.aarch64.rpm

Arch Linux (AUR)

Using an AUR helper (yay, paru, etc.):

# Binary package (recommended - faster)
yay -S term39-bin

# Source package (builds from source)
yay -S term39

Manual installation:

# Binary package
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/term39-bin.git
cd term39-bin
makepkg -si

# Source package
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/term39.git
cd term39
makepkg -si

macOS

Download the binary for your architecture from the Releases page:

# Extract and install
tar xzf term39-*.tar.gz
sudo mv term39 /usr/local/bin/

From Source

git clone https://github.com/alejandroqh/term39.git
cd term39

# Standard build (terminal backend)
cargo build --release

# Linux build with framebuffer support
cargo build --release --features framebuffer-backend

./target/release/term39

Requires Rust 1.70 or later. Install Rust

Usage

Basic Usage

# Run with Unicode characters (recommended)
./term39

# Run with ASCII-only characters for compatibility
./term39 --ascii

# Run with a specific theme
./term39 --theme dark
./term39 --theme green_phosphor

# Available themes:
# classic, dark, monochrome, green_phosphor, amber

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key Action
t Create new terminal window (from desktop)
T Create new maximized terminal window (from desktop)
q or ESC Exit application (from desktop)
h Show help screen
s Show settings/configuration window
l Show license and about information
c Show calendar
ALT+TAB Switch between windows
Ctrl+Shift+C Copy selected text to clipboard
Ctrl+Shift+V Paste from clipboard

Dialog Controls

Key Action
TAB or LEFT/RIGHT Navigate between dialog buttons
ENTER Activate selected button
ESC Close dialog

Calendar Navigation (when calendar is open)

Key Action
LEFT/RIGHT or </> or ,/. Navigate months
UP/DOWN Navigate years
t or HOME Jump to today
ESC Close calendar

Mouse Controls

  • Click title bar - Drag window to move
  • Click [X] - Close window
  • Drag ╬ handle - Resize window (bottom-right corner)
  • Click window - Focus window
  • Click bottom bar - Switch between windows
  • Drag in terminal - Select text
  • Right-click in terminal - Open context menu (copy/paste/close)
  • Click top bar buttons - Quick clipboard access (copy/paste/clear)

Window Controls

Each window has three buttons in the title bar:

  • [X] (red) - Close window
  • [+] (green) - Maximize/restore window
  • [_] (yellow) - Minimize window

Architecture

Core Components

  • Video Buffer System: Double-buffered rendering with dirty region tracking
  • Window Manager: Z-order management with focus handling
  • Terminal Emulator: VT100/ANSI escape sequence parser using VTE
  • Charset Configuration: Switchable Unicode/ASCII rendering modes
  • PTY Integration: Real shell integration via portable-pty

Rendering System

TERM39 uses a sophisticated double-buffer system:

  • Front/back buffers for flicker-free rendering
  • Per-cell dirty tracking (only updates changed cells)
  • Save/restore regions for efficient window management
  • Shadow system for 3D depth effect

Building and Development

Prerequisites

  • Rust 1.70 or later
  • Cargo (comes with Rust)

Build Commands

# Development build
cargo build

# Optimized release build
cargo build --release

# Linux build with framebuffer support
cargo build --release --features framebuffer-backend

# Run directly
cargo run

# Run with ASCII mode
cargo run -- --ascii

# Run with framebuffer mode (Linux only, requires root or video group)
sudo cargo run --features framebuffer-backend -- --fb-mode=80x25

# Run tests
cargo test

# Check code quality
cargo clippy

# Format code
cargo fmt

Project Structure

term39/
├── src/
│   ├── main.rs              # Entry point and event loop
│   ├── charset.rs           # Unicode/ASCII character sets
│   ├── video_buffer.rs      # Double-buffered rendering
│   ├── window.rs            # Window rendering and UI
│   ├── window_manager.rs    # Multi-window management
│   ├── terminal_emulator.rs # VT100/ANSI parser
│   ├── terminal_window.rs   # Terminal integration
│   ├── term_grid.rs         # Terminal cell grid
│   ├── ansi_handler.rs      # ANSI escape handling
│   ├── button.rs            # UI button component
│   └── prompt.rs            # Dialog/prompt system
├── Cargo.toml
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Whether you're fixing bugs, adding features, or improving documentation, your help is appreciated.

How to Contribute

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
  3. Make your changes: Follow the existing code style
  4. Test your changes: cargo test && cargo clippy
  5. Commit your changes: git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
  6. Push to the branch: git push origin feature/amazing-feature
  7. Open a Pull Request

Development Guidelines

  • Follow Rust best practices and idioms
  • Run cargo fmt before committing
  • Ensure cargo clippy passes without warnings
  • Add tests for new functionality
  • Update documentation as needed
  • Keep commits atomic and well-described

Areas for Contribution

  • Terminal emulation: Improve ANSI/VT escape sequence coverage
  • Performance: Optimize rendering and buffer management
  • Features: Tab completion, session saving, themes, etc.
  • Platform support: Testing and fixes for Windows/Linux/macOS
  • Documentation: Tutorials, examples, code comments
  • Testing: Unit tests, integration tests, edge cases

Roadmap

  • Configuration file support (colors, keybindings)
  • Tiling windows
  • Snap corners
  • Custom themes
  • Copy/paste support with system clipboard
  • Scrollback buffer
  • Session persistence (save/restore windows)
  • Tab completion
  • Split panes within windows
  • Search functionality in scrollback
  • Advanced selection modes (line, word)

Dependencies

  • crossterm - Cross-platform terminal manipulation
  • chrono - Date and time library
  • portable-pty - Cross-platform PTY support
  • vte - ANSI/VT parser
  • arboard - Cross-platform clipboard access

Similar Projects

If you're interested in terminal multiplexers, check out:

  • tmux - Terminal multiplexer
  • GNU Screen - Terminal multiplexer
  • byobu - Text-based window manager
  • zellij - Modern terminal workspace

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2025 Alejandro Quintanar

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

Acknowledgments

  • Inspired by Norton Disk Doctor and classic DOS applications
  • Built with the amazing Rust programming language
  • Thanks to the open source community for the excellent libraries

Support