Linux – How to configure gnome-terminal to use xterm-256color by default

debiangnomelinuxterminal

When I start gnome-terminal and do echo $TERM, I got xterm as output.

I want it to be xterm-256color

I've considered the solution to add 'export TERM=xterm256color' in my .bashrc. But I don't like this solution, what if I decide to switch shell? I have to add an other export to my new shell startup script?

So is there a better way to have automatically a 256 colors terminal when launching gnome-terminal?

Best Answer

Copying my answer from the same question @javabrett pointed out:

You were well advised not to change your startup scripts, specially ~/.bashrc. Any "terminal detection" using current $TERM or $COLORTERM in ~/.profile is merely a guess, and may, as you said, cause trouble when using other terminals (say, Putty or xterm). The terminal emulator is supposed to set $TERM, and this should not be changed from within the shell.

Gnome terminal, AFAIK, does not offer a configuration to change its TERM, but it does allow you to change your startup command, and that's all you need. Here is the trick:

Profile Preferences => Title and Command => Run a custom command instead of my shell

Then use the following command:

env TERM=xterm-256color /bin/bash

Just replace /bin/bash with your preferred shell if it's different. And no, you can't use "$SHELL" in that line for shell auto-detection ;) You have to hard-code it

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