[SOLVED] Starting the terminal maximized

Hey all, first of all thanks for putting time into this OS. I recently installed it on my netbook and love it so much I put it on my mom's laptop as well. It runs so fast but still has access to all the software I'd ever need.

Anyways, I googled a little and searched these forums and didn't find a clear answer, but is there a way to have the terminal always open maximized, like with --maximized somewhere? I use ctrl+alt+T to open mine. I'm using ZorinOS 8 Lite, but I'd imagine the change I want to make isnt too specific to a distribution. If possible please give me a command line solution, I like to avoid the GUI route whenever possible so I can better learn the command line skills and innerworkings of linux, as I'm still a pretty low level linux user.

Thanks!

In terminal run

sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/gnome-terminal.desktop

A file will open.

Change the line that says:

Exec=gnome-terminal

to:

Exec=gnome-terminal --window --maximize


Save, exit and then open terminal to see if it will start maximized.

Just to point out that Zorin Lite 6, 7, and 8 are now end-of-life - hopefully 9 will be released shortly!

Thanks for the starting point, madvinegar. Unfortunately that didn't work, as I don't have that file in the system. This Zorin OS 8 uses LXDE window manager instead of Gnome I believe. Nonetheless, I tried to make a similar edit as you suggested to the Exec= line of the terminal files I did find, but no dice. The terminal still just open in a small window (really small considering its a netbook screen).

Code:

matroska@milksteak:~$ ls -l /usr/share/applications | grep terminal
-rw-r--r-- 1 root     root       481 Jul 15 19:26 lxde-x-terminal-emulator.desktop
-rw-r--r-- 1 root     root      4021 Jul 15 19:11 lxterminal.desktop
matroska@milksteak:~$


Lubuntu talks about how to start windows maximised and I thought it might (used very losely) you.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Windows

Sorry, I just noticed that you are talking about the Lite edition.
The solution I gave you works perfectly with gnome-terminal.
So, any easy way out for your would be to install and use gnome terminal.

You can install it either from the software center or via command line:

Code:

sudo apt-get install gnome-terminal

and then follow the advise I gave you.

In terminal run

Code:

sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/gnome-terminal.desktop

A file will open.

Change the line that says:

Code:

Exec=gnome-terminal

to:

Code:

Exec=gnome-terminal --window --maximize

Ok found it. You can do the following so as to get the LXterminal to always open maximized.

Open terminal and run:

Code:

sudo leafpad ~/.config/openbox/lubuntu-rc.xml

At the end of the file, ABOVE the last two lines that say:

</applications>
</openbox_config>

Add the following lines:

Code:

<!-- Option to maximize LXTERMINAL window when launched-->
<application name="lxterminal">
<maximized>yes</maximized>
</application>

(see the attached pic to get an idea. Click to maximize it. It is a screenshot from my Lubuntu rig).

Save, close and then in terminal run:

Code:

openbox --reconfigure

Your lxterminal should be starting maximized from now on. I just tried it in Lubuntu 14.04.

Ah okay, that makes sense, I will give it a try when I get home today. One thing I get confused about with these references to openbox - I thought I have the LXDE windows manager? Is that actually a form of openbox window manager? I had seen references to both in my system and it was confusing me.

Well, I got it to work after tweaking your code slightly. I had to change the <application name="lxterminal"> to <application name="x-terminal-emulator">. I realized that should work after looking through the Zorin Menu -> Preferences -> Default applications for LXSession -> Launching applications -> Terminal manager, which was set to x-terminal-emulator. I'm assuming x-terminal-emulator then calls up lxterminal somehow, because the About page on the terminal that appears says it's LXterminal... Anyhow, thanks for the help guys. I may end up just setting all windows to open maximized per your link Wolfgang.

How can I mark this thread as SOLVED?

really want CLI, then just run this.

Code:

sudo service lightdm stop

it will actually drop you out of the gui entirely (and save a LOT on battery life)
(you may have to press [ctrl]+[alt]+[F1] to change to a CLI environment. )
and if you like it (and this is how my laptop is configured)

Code:

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

and you can change ”quiet splash” to ”text” on the "GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=" line. then run

Code:

sudo update-grub

for the update to take place. (remember you can always change it back by changing the line and updating grub again) and you will still have the ability to start the GUI any time you need by running

Code:

sudo service lightdm start

for multi user mode, or for just you (and auto login to your account) just run

Code:

startx