The K Desktop Environment

Chapter 1. Introduction to Konsole

Konsole is an X terminal emulator which provides a command-line interface (CLI) while using the graphical K Desktop Environment. Konsole helps to better organize the user's desktop by containing multiple sessions in a single window (a less cluttered desktop).

Its advanced features include a simple configuration and the ability to use multiple terminal shells in a single window.

Using Konsole, a user can open:

These sessions can be renamed to help you keep track of all your shells, or signaled (STOP, CONT, HUP, INT, TERM, KILL).

For more control over Konsole, a user can:

All chosen settings can be made the default for forthcoming sessions by saving them.

1.1. History

For those with a deep interest in the taxonomy of free X terminals, there are two others of this kind: xterm, the original, written even before X itself (a month or two), and xvt, a lightweight xterm clone, on which most other currently available derivatives (notably eterm) are based.

After a decade, Konsole is the first rewrite from the ground up. While xterm has definitely been hacked to death (its README starts with the words "Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here"), Konsole offers a fresh start using contemporary technologies and understanding of X.