# Byobu Byobu is an ergonomics layer over [[TMux]] (or [[GNU Screen]]) — not a multiplexer itself, but a preconfigured frontend that makes one pleasant in thirty seconds. Born at Canonical for Ubuntu servers; the name is Japanese for folding screen. What it adds on top of a stock multiplexer: - **F-key bindings** (F2 new window, F3/F4 switch, F6 detach) — no prefix-key gymnastics to learn - **Status notifications**: load, memory, updates available, reboot required, battery — sysadmin telemetry in the status bar with zero config - Profiles and sensible defaults, one `byobu-enable` to make it wrap every login ## Where it fits Byobu answers "I want session persistence on this server *now* and refuse to learn tmux keybindings." That made it a fixture on Ubuntu boxes. The trade: another layer of indirection, and once you outgrow it you end up learning [[TMux]] underneath anyway — or jumping to [[Zellij]], which delivers the same discoverability (on-screen keybinding hints) natively instead of as a wrapper. ## References - https://www.byobu.org ## Related - [[TMux]] · [[GNU Screen]] — the engines it wraps - [[Zellij]] — the modern answer to the same usability problem - [[Terminal Multiplexers]]