19.2.4. Quality-of-Life Features

The Fast Way

sudo apt install -y zsh git curl wget byobu vim\
&& sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Choose zsh as default by hitting enter.

# clone repo
mkdir -p "$HOME/.zsh"
git clone https://github.com/sindresorhus/pure.git "$HOME/.zsh/pure"

# add path to ~/.zshrc, initialize prompt and choose pure (at the top of the file!)
echo 'fpath+=$HOME/.zsh/pure \nautoload -U promptinit; promptinit \nprompt pure' | cat - ~/.zshrc > temp && mv temp ~/.zshrc

# delete default theme entry
sed -i 's/ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell"/ZSH_THEME=""/' ~/.zshrc
# clone repo
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions

# add plugin to list of plugins
# assuming unchanged list containing only git, otherwise do this manually
sed -i 's/plugins=(git)/plugins=(git zsh-autosuggestions)/' ~/.zshrc
echo "zstyle ':prompt:pure:path' color 075\nzstyle ':prompt:pure:prompt:success' color 214\nzstyle ':prompt:pure:user' color 119\nzstyle ':prompt:pure:host' color 119\nZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_HIGHLIGHT_STYLE='fg=161'" >> ~/.zshrc
echo "zstyle ':prompt:pure:path' color 075\nzstyle ':prompt:pure:prompt:success' color 214\nzstyle ':prompt:pure:user' color 119\nzstyle ':prompt:pure:host' color 119\nZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_HIGHLIGHT_STYLE='fg=161'" >> ~/.zshrc
echo "export TERM=xterm-256color" >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
byobu-enable

The Good Way

zsh

We prefer using the Z shell (zsh). To install:

sudo apt install -y zsh git curl

Install oh-my-zsh:

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Install the Pure prompt:

# clone repo
mkdir -p "$HOME/.zsh"
git clone https://github.com/sindresorhus/pure.git "$HOME/.zsh/pure"

# add path to ~/.zshrc, initialize prompt and choose pure (at the top of the file!)
echo 'fpath+=$HOME/.zsh/pure \nautoload -U promptinit; promptinit \nprompt pure' | cat - ~/.zshrc > temp && mv temp ~/.zshrc

# delete default theme entry
sed -i 's/ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell"/ZSH_THEME=""/' ~/.zshrc

Install zsh-autosuggestions:

# clone repo
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions

# add plugin to list of plugins
# assuming unchanged list containing only git, otherwise do this manually
sed -i 's/plugins=(git)/plugins=(git zsh-autosuggestions)/' ~/.zshrc

Adjust colours of pure prompt and autosuggestions:

echo "zstyle ':prompt:pure:path' color 075\nzstyle ':prompt:pure:prompt:success' color 214\nzstyle ':prompt:pure:user' color 119\nzstyle ':prompt:pure:host' color 119\nZSH_AUTOSUGGEST_HIGHLIGHT_STYLE='fg=161'" >> ~/.zshrc

See the Pure Zstyle options and the Xterm265 colour chart for other settings and colours.

To avoid not seeing the nice colors we just selected:

echo "export TERM=xterm-256color" >> ~/.zshrc

To apply changes:

source ~/.zshrc

Byobu

To install Byobu, a terminal multiplexer:

sudo apt install byobu

Enable Byobu:

byobu-enable

Useful Shortcuts

Shortcut	Function
`F2`	Open new terminal window
`F3`	Move to previous window
`F4`	Move to next window
`F6`	Detach from this session
`Ctrl` + `A` and then `Ctrl` + `D`	Also Detach from this session. The first time you use this, you will be asked whether you want to use screen hotkeys or emacs hotkeys. Choose screen.
`Alt` + `F12`	Turn mouse support for scrolling on/off

Here’s a more elaborate cheat sheet.

VIM

To install vim:

sudo apt install vim