Using the command echo $TERM
, I get the output 'xterm'. However, I have not done anything to install the X Windowing System, and as far as I know, Xterm cannot run without it, and Arch does not install it by default. (Furthermore, there isn't any manpage on xterm, and I would think that if I actually had xterm installed, it would have a manpage).
So is the default terminal for Arch Linux really Xterm? If so, how is it running without X? If not, why does the $TERM
variable contain 'xterm', and what is the default terminal?
Best Answer
When you log in to the console without X11, you are using the Linux built-in "virtual console". It's built into the kernel and its terminfo name is
linux
, which is what you should be seeing in$TERM
.If your
$TERM
has anything else, carefully check your configuration, including:/etc/inittab
(they should saylinux
at the end1)/etc/profile
,/etc/profile.d/*.sh
/etc/bash.bashrc
(if using bash)~/.profile
,~/.bash_profile
,~/.bash_login
,~/.bashrc
1 Certain Arch Wiki pages suggest configuring agetty in inittab to use
xterm
or evenxterm-256color
. This is nonsense.