# Install xterm with Homebrew Terminal emulator for the X Window System. Version 410 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-25. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:xterm ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install xterm ``` Evidence: provider-native install command ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:xterm - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Version:** 410 - **Source summary:** Terminal emulator for the X Window System - **Homepage:** - **Last updated:** 2026-05-25T14:31:49-04:00 - **Generated:** 2026-08-03T00:40:33+00:00 ## Executables - koi8rxterm (alias) - resize (alias) - uxterm (alias) - xterm (alias) ## Install behavior - Bottle: not available ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-08-03 - Package-manager version: 410 ## Project history and usage xterm is the canonical terminal emulator for the X Window System: a DEC VT-family and Tektronix 4014 compatible terminal window that has survived from the first X experiments into modern X.Org packaging. For package nerds, it is both a usable terminal and a reference point for terminal control sequences, terminfo behavior, and X11 terminal compatibility. ### Project history xterm predates the X Window System in a narrow but important sense. Thomas Dickey's FAQ preserves Jim Gettys' account that Mark Vandevoorde first wrote it in the summer of 1984 as a stand-alone terminal emulator for the DEC VAXstation 100, then retargeted it to X when X became the more useful path. The early program accumulated work from Gettys and others: Bob McNamara's ANSI parser, Tektronix graphics support from Doug Mink at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, an X11 port by Loretta Guarino, and later X Consortium maintenance. That mixed authorship explains why xterm carries both terminal-emulation and early-workstation history. Thomas E. Dickey began sustained xterm work in the mid-1990s, initially around color behavior, ncurses needs, and XFree86 integration. His project page describes xterm's terminal-description evolution from VT102-oriented behavior to VT220 and then VT420-oriented behavior, while the changelog records continuing patch-level maintenance into the 2020s. ### Adoption history xterm's adoption followed X11 itself. It became the standard terminal emulator shipped with X distributions, so Unix workstations, XFree86, X.Org, Cygwin/X, XQuartz-style setups, and Linux distributions inherited it as the plain X terminal even after desktop environments added newer terminal apps. The larger adoption story is compatibility. Terminal applications, curses libraries, shell prompts, and title-setting helpers often target xterm-compatible behavior even when the actual emulator is rxvt, dtterm, GNOME Terminal, Konsole, iTerm2, or another descendant. This made xterm a de facto behavior spec as much as a package. Dickey's upstream page links packages, historical source archives, the FAQ, control-sequence documentation, and the changelog, reflecting xterm's unusual status as an old X component still maintained as an independent upstream and still distributed by package managers. ### How it is used Users run `xterm` to open a shell or command in an X11 window; `uxterm` wraps xterm for Unicode locales; `koi8rxterm` targets KOI8-R environments; and `resize` reports terminal dimensions to shells. Options and X resources control fonts, colors, scrollback, geometry, titles, selections, and terminal modes. Developers use xterm as a practical testbed for terminal behavior: cursor addressing, colors, alternate-screen behavior, title operations, UTF-8, terminfo capabilities, bracketed paste, and compatibility with old DEC and Tektronix expectations. ### Why package nerds care xterm matters because package history, protocol history, and terminal compatibility meet in one executable. Installing it is not just installing a terminal; it brings a long-lived X11 terminal behavior that many terminal programs and scripts already know how to speak. It is also a maintenance case study. Rather than being replaced by a new framework, xterm survived by preserving old X and DEC behavior while adding color, Unicode, Xft fonts, newer DEC emulation, and safety controls around risky terminal operations. ### Timeline - 1984: Mark Vandevoorde writes the original VS100 terminal emulator during the summer X began, then retargets it to X. - 1985: Doug Mink adds Tektronix-style graphics support for Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory workflows using early X systems. - 1987: X11-era development begins; Loretta Guarino ports xterm to X11 according to the FAQ's preserved authorship history. - Early 1996: Thomas Dickey begins sustained xterm maintenance work around color, portability, and terminal-description correctness. - 1996: XFree86-era patches move xterm toward fuller VT220-style behavior and updated termcap/terminfo descriptions. - 2012: The preferred xterm terminal description shifts to a VT420-oriented basis, per Dickey's project history. - 2020s: xterm remains maintained upstream with changelog entries and package-manager distribution across Unix-like systems. ### Related projects - X Window System and X.Org: the display-system lineage that made xterm a standard client. - XFree86: the project through which much mid-1990s and early-2000s xterm work flowed. - ncurses, termcap, and terminfo: terminal capability databases and libraries whose xterm entries evolved alongside the emulator. - vttest: Thomas Dickey's related terminal test program. - rxvt, kterm, hanterm, dtterm, GNOME Terminal, and Konsole: terminal emulators that intersect with xterm compatibility. ### Sources - - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/xterm.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/xterm.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - curated package history - pkgdb category and tag curation