9.4.10 X resources

Many older X programs, such as xterm, use the X resource database to configure their appearance. The file ~/.Xresources is used to store user resource specifications. This file is automatically merged into the default X resources upon login. The system-wide defaults of X resources are stored in /etc/X11/Xresources/* and application defaults of them are stored in /etc/X11/app-defaults/*. Use these settings as the starting points.

Here are some helpful settings to add to your ~/.Xresources file:

     ! Set the font to a more readable 9x15
     XTerm*font: 9x15
     
     ! Display a scrollbar
     XTerm*scrollBar: true
     
     ! Set the size of the buffer to 1000 lines
     XTerm*saveLines: 1000
     
     ! Large kterm screen
     KTerm*VT100*fontList: -*-fixed-medium-r-normal--24-*,\
      -*-gothic-medium-r-normal--24-*,\
      -*-mincho-medium-r-normal--24-*

To make these settings take effect immediately, merge them into the database using the command:

     xrdb -merge ~/.Xresources

See xrdb(1x).