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What's the difference between Terminal in Ubuntu desktop (Applications>Accessories>Terminal) and xterm? They look very similar.

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The difference is that xterm is the standard terminal emulator of the X Window System, while gnome-terminal is the standard terminal emulator of the GNOME project.

They are similar because both are terminal emulators.

Read the answers to this question for an explanation why terminals need to be emulated and what a "real" terminal or a "virtual" terminal is.

Do not confuse a terminal with a shell. Read the answers to this question for an explanation of the difference between a terminal and a shell.

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Why can't I use "setenv" command in xterm? – alwbtc Oct 9 '11 at 13:28
most likely because you are running bash inside xterm. setenv is a csh command. It appears to me that you are confusing the terminal with a shell. Learn the difference. It will help you a lot. – lesmana Oct 9 '11 at 22:32
Well, that is what I wanted to know. Where can I find explanations about the difference of these two? – alwbtc Oct 10 '11 at 6:55
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I added links to my answer. They should help you understand the differences. – lesmana Oct 10 '11 at 15:10
Thank you very much! – alwbtc Oct 14 '11 at 18:48
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