Running Linux, Third Edition

Other Interesting Packages

There are several other packages commonly available on Linux systems that you may be interested in using. You can find out about them by reading the appropriate HOWTO files and other accompanying documentation.

The term utility is a client/server system that allows you to multiplex your serial line—that is, you can log in multiple times over a single dial-up connection. term includes additional features allowing you to run network clients (such as Telnet, FTP, and Netscape Navigator) over the serial line. You can even use term to display remote X Window System clients on your local machine. So you can simultaneously run a remote X session, download files, and send mail, for example. This capability is most useful if your modem can handle high-speed data transfer; you can get comfortable performance with a 28.8 Kbps (preferably v.34-compliant) modem.

term is somewhat like PPP (discussed in the section Section 15.2 in Chapter 15) but term can be executed as a normal user: no need for root access on either the client or server side, and no need for a special PPP dial-in server.

To use term, you need a dial-in shell account on a Unix system. You build the term software both on that Unix system and on your Linux machine. You dial in to the remote system and execute term there; it now handles all data to and from your dial-in connection. On your local machine, you place the communications program in the background and execute term to control the dial-in connection ...