For years now I’ve been using and managing my Linux server over a SSH connection. Indeed, this entire website was coded up using vim over SSH. In the beginning Unix machines were primarily accessed via teletypewriter (tty’s) and CRT terminals connected through a serial connection, and this tradition lives on in the plethora of terminal/console applications for *nix systems (unlike Windows systems, which are virtually impossible to administer from a console alone). So, I’ve been managing my Debian and Ubuntu systems for years now without ever firing up an X server, happily reading my mail with the proud but austere mutt, seeking tech advice on freenode using the ever clever irssi, haunting the occasional programming news group via the enigmatic but flexible slrn, and more recently downloading *nix ISO’s over bittorrent with rTorrent. All managed with the indispensable terminal multiplexer screen, which is essentially a window manager for terminals, with the added goodness of letting you disconnect and reconnect to sessions. continue reading