FIXING TMUX NOT RUNNING SHELL COMMANDS
       
       
       
       
       The joys of tmux
       ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
       I've been moving more of my shell life into `tmux'. I find it to be a
       very pleasant bit of software. I've picked it up with relative ease
       thanks to its thoroughly document man-page, sensical key-bindings, and
       smooth integration into my existing "all-text" lifestyle.
       
       My favorite thing about `tmux' is how it keeps my sessions alive even
       when I close its enclosing terminal. My sometimes slippery fingies
       might accidentally close a window (oops!). I've gained confidence from
       `tmux' knowing that I can reconnect a client to the server's sessions
       anytime. There's also a workflow boon from this feature: I can connect
       multiple clients if I want to have `tmux' open in multiple `i3'
       workspaces.
       
       
       Multiplexing more
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       I want to spend more time in `tmux'. I've become so familiar and
       frequent with it that I'll sometimes forget a `urxvt' window isn't
       inside a `tmux' client. This means that I can't take advantage of
       `tmux''s copy mode, among other things.
       
       I use `plumber' to plumb links inside a terminal window. Basically,
       `urxvt-matcher' matches for certain URIs and then sends those to a
       Python script, `plumb', which moves the URL along to the relevant
       opener (YouTube, Gopher, Firefox, etc.) A lot of links I visit open
       `lynx' in a new terminal window. What I'd like to do instead is have
       those links open `lynx' on an existing `tmux' server. The first step
       towards this improvement is learning how to start a new shell command
       inside an existing `tmux' server.
       
       
       Fixing what's broken
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       `tmux' documentation states a user can invoke `new-session' to run a
       given shell command on an existing `tmux' server. In whole, the
       command looks something like this:
       
       ,----
       | tmux new-session "lynx gopher://roygbyte.com"
       `----
       
       For me, this didn't work out of the box. The behavior I observed was
       that the session immediately exited. Weird! I thought maybe I was
       missing a switch for the command. I tried different switches. I ran
       the `new-session' command inside and outside `tmux'. I tried different
       programs: `top' and `emacs -nw' also exited immediately. Oddly,
       running `ed' worked fine (that's why it's the standard). This got me
       thinking my virtual terminal could be a problem.
       
       A suggested commands are suppose to exit. In other words, this is the
       intended behavior. It also suggested a work around (which did work!)
       of `tmux send-keys -t session-id "lynx gopher://roygbyte.com" ENTER'.
       
       I didn't accept the work around as a solution for me. I wanted to know
       what was wrong with my setup. There was mention of debugging using the
       `remain-on-exit' option. So I turned this on (`set -g remain-on-exit
       on') and invoked my initial `new-session' command again. Lo! The
       session read: "Terminal initialisation failed - unknown terminal
       type?".
       
       So the issue *is* with my terminal, which `$TERM' evaluates as
       `rxvt-unicode-256'. Looking through gave me ideas about what to do
       next, particularily: tmux has a `default-terminal' option. So I set
       that to be the same as `$TERM', `rxvt-unicode-256color' and tada,
       t'works. The `new-session' command completes and `lynx' has
       successfully opened the URL I supplied as an argument. Yay!
       
       
       In concluson
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       This issue was a standard-issue "gotcha!". It's also a wake up call
       for me to better understand what a terminal even is. I spend so much
       of my life inside these things yet I don't understand their
       principals. Like: why do some people use `st' over `urxvt' or `xterm'?
       And: what's a virtual terminal, anyways? I can't answer these
       questions but I hope to find answers soon.
       
       Anyways, this was a fun little thing to dig into. I gained a few
       anciliary outcomes: this phlog post and a new `tmux' config file. I
       started it with some help from . Not much in it yet, but I'm sure it
       will grow over time:
       
       ,----
       | unbind C-Space
       | set -g prefix C-Space
       | bind C-Space send-prefix
       | set -g mouse on
       | set -g renumber-windows on
       | set -g remain-on-exit on
       | set -g default-terminal rxvt-unicode-256color
       `----
       
       My thanks to eidolon, too, who helped debug. They also mentioned a
       nice plumber hax: `bind-key -T copy-mode-vi p send-keys -X copy-pipe
       "plumb -"'. Make a copy in copymode and press P to send "pay the
       plumber". I haven't tried this yet, but I someday will.