GoTerm, the rgterm killer

A BBS terminal for Windows, Linux and Android

TelnetSSHRLoginZMODEMANSITabsAudio

get goterm builds here

Features

Telnet, SSH, RLogin — Connect to any BBS over telnet, SSH or RLogin, or open a raw socket. Links like telnet://, ssh:// and rlogin:// work from the command line and from Android.
Authentic ANSI — 16, 256 and truecolor ANSI, blink, ICE colors, sixel graphics, and the CP437 fonts in 8x16, 8x14 and 8x8, with optional 9-dot VGA cells.
File transfers — ZMODEM downloads start by themselves. Upload and download with ZMODEM, XMODEM and YMODEM from the Alt+U / Alt+D keys.
Tabs — Stay logged on to several BBSes at once. Switch with Alt+1..9 or Alt+Left/Right, open with Alt+T, close with Alt+W or the x on the tab. Background tabs show activity.
Sound — ANSI music and bell, plus SyncTERM audio (the BBS sound system) with WAV, AIFF, AU, MP3, FLAC and Ogg Vorbis. The audio cache is capped at 500 MB and cleared at start.
BBS mouse support — Click BBS menus when the BBS asks for the mouse (xterm modes 9, 1000, 1002, 1003, 1006). Hold Shift to select text, or press Alt+M to turn it off for the call.
Dialing directory — Your list is saved in goterm.lst, SyncTERM-style. Search it, sort by name or last call, remove duplicates, import syncterm.lst files or a list from a web address.
Scrollback — Wheel or Ctrl+PgUp to scroll back, search with /, save the buffer to a file. The screen can be kept in scrollback when a BBS clears it.
Themes and palettes — 17 interface themes, editable 16-color ANSI palettes, border characters, and import of console .reg palettes such as FixANSIColors.reg.
Host resizing — A BBS can switch the screen to 132 columns or taller with a resize request. Turn it off for all calls or for a single entry.
Windows, Linux, Android — Native windows for Windows (32 and 64-bit) and Linux (X11, 32 and 64-bit), a terminal version for Linux consoles, and an Android app project built on the same engine.
Small and self-contained — One program per platform, written in Go. No installer and no runtime to install.

Dialing directory

EnterorDouble-click

Connect to the selected entry

InsorA

Add an entry

E

Edit the entry (name, address, port, connection, terminal type, screen mode, music, UTF-8, mute, ignore resize, notes)

C

Copy the entry

Del

Remove the entry

/orF8orCtrl+F

Search by name, address, notes or type

S

Sort by name or by last call (most recent first)

D

Remove duplicate entries (same address, port and connection type)

UorF9

Import a list from a web address

F7

Import a syncterm.lst or goterm.lst file

F5orAlt+Q

Quick connect: type host:port, "host port" or ssh://user@host

F6

Local test pattern

F2

Settings

F3

Terminal ANSI palette

F4

Color schemes and interface themes

QorF10

Quit

While connected

Alt+Z

Online menu

Alt+H

Hang up

Alt+U

Upload files

Alt+D

Download (ZMODEM downloads also start automatically)

Alt+Q

Quick connect in a new tab

Alt+Enter

Fullscreen

Alt+M

BBS mouse off / on for this call

Esc

Cancel while dialing

Tabs

Alt+T

New tab

Alt+W

Close the tab (asks before hanging up a live call)

Alt+1..9

Go to tab 1 to 9

Alt+LeftorAlt+Right

Previous or next tab

Click

Click a tab to switch, or its x to close it

Copy, paste and scrollback

Drag

Select text; it is copied when you let go

Shift+Drag

Select text when the BBS has mouse support on

Ctrl+CorCtrl+Ins

Copy the selection

Ctrl+VorAlt+VorShift+Ins

Paste (also right-click or middle-click; works in input boxes)

WheelorCtrl+PgUp

Scroll back

/

Search the scrollback

Settings

Open Settings with F2 in the directory, or from the Online menu while connected.

Download directory

Where received files are saved.

Default terminal type

ansi-bbs, ansi, syncterm, xterm-256color, xterm, linux, vt100, vt220, rxvt, pcansi, cygwin and more. Each entry can override it.

Default screen mode

80x25 up to 80x60 and 132x25 up to 132x60.

Sort directory by

Name, last call, or none.

Sound / ANSI music, Bell

Turn sound and the bell on or off.

Copy selection on release

Copies as soon as you finish dragging.

Ignore host resize requests

Refuse BBS screen-size changes (also per entry).

Ignore BBS mouse requests

Always select text with the mouse.

Display options

ICE colors, 9-dot cells, window scaling (fit, integer, stretch), smooth scaling, block cursor.

Scrollback and audio cache

Scrollback lines, keep screen on clear, cache limit in MB (default 500, 0 = none), clear the cache at start-up, clear it now.

Colors, themes and borders

ANSI palette, color schemes, interface colors, border characters.

Command line

goterm bbs.example.com 23

Open the window and dial a host and port

goterm ssh://[email protected]

Dial with SSH and a user name

goterm -mode 80x50 -term xterm-256color host:2323

Pick the screen mode and terminal type

goterm-cli bbs.example.com

Terminal version for Linux consoles and SSH sessions

Options: -mode screen mode, -term terminal type, -user user name. A target can be host, host:port, host port or ssh://user@host; a name from your directory also works.

Files and folders

goterm.lst

Your dialing directory, in a SyncTERM-style list. Windows: %AppData%\GoTerm. Linux: ~/.config/GoTerm.

config.json

Settings, palettes and themes, in the same folder.

Audio cache

Sounds that BBSes store, in the GoTerm folder of your user cache directory. Limited to 500 MB by default and cleared each time GoTerm starts; change both in Settings.

syncterm.lst

Import it with F7. Duplicates are skipped.

Android

The Android app is a thin Kotlin shell around the same engine: it shows the screen, sends touch and keyboard input, and plays sound. The project is in the android/ folder of the source.

Touch

Tap to click, double-tap for a double click, drag to scroll, long-press and drag to select text.

Key bar

Esc, Tab, sticky Ctrl and Alt, arrows, PgUp/PgDn, Home/End, Ins/Del, F1 to F12 and a Menu for tabs, quick connect, transfers and hang up.

Back button

Sends Esc to the terminal.

Build

Open the folder in Android Studio, or use the included GitHub Actions workflow to produce an APK.

Get GoTerm

Get the current code, builds and Android project from github.com/mro-1337.

Each release is one zip: windows-x64 and windows-x86 (goterm.exe), linux-x64 and linux-x86 (goterm and goterm-cli), docs, and the full source including the Android project.