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tmux: is it faster because it's more efficient about sending updates to the terminal, or are you talking about server-side resource usage?

I certainly wouldn't say no to a more responsive terminal.

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I'm talking about the time between keystrokes and visual response.

To make the switch-over even easier, rebind to C-a instead of the (sensible) tmux default of C-b. Put this into your ~/.tmux.conf:

set -g prefix C-a unbind C-b bind C-a send-prefix bind-key C-a last-window

Neither are sensible for anyone who uses Emacs keybindings (at the shell or in Emacs). I have my prefix key set to C-t, which is tolerable.

Being an emacs user, C-a was never practical. I always set mine to ` (backtick). Except when writing shell scripts, it's surprising how little it actually comes up, and learning to type it twice when you actually want one is not hard. It reduces by 1/3rd the number of keys involved in switching "tabs" or doing other stuff.

Unlearning typing it twice for when you're not in screen is the hard part.

But C-t is a useful Emacs keybinding. I use C-z. Pressing C-z z when you want to suspend the running app is not particularly disruptive.

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