326_Mini_Terminal

Team Number

Project Team 1 (Online)

Project Description

• Problems:

  1. Large universities, like UMass, usually provide ssh server environments, like EdLab, for students to get familiar with Linux-styled commands. However, most students only use the most basic features on EdLab, so the power assumption and the continuous maintenance cost are not worth it. Students, who are not enrolled in a university and have no previous experience in installing and using Linux, usually find it hard to install a Linux distribution on their PCs.
  2. Update the UI so that the page looks modern.

• Solutions:

  1. A terminal simulator, which can be accessed on web browsers and run on local devices (phones, tablets, and PCs), can perfectly solve this problem.
  2. Do some research online and Switch to better design.

• Key Features:

  • The terminal simulator will support the most usual Linux commands, like man, ls, pwd, cd, mkdir, rename, touch, cp, edit, and so on.
  • The terminal simulator includes a file system simulator written in JS, so even a smart phone can perform all the commands (cross-platform).
  • Additionally, we can set up additional buttons outside the terminal window to support log-saving, terminal tab/window opening/closing, and file-system importing/exporting. Hence, people can easily save and resume their work.
  • We can implement customizable themes allowing users to switch between different color schemes (dark mode, light mode, etc.)
  • Store previously entered commands and allow users to cycle through them using the up/down arrow keys.
  • Finally, if time allows, the terminal will have supports for Web Assembly, so the terminal can be used to program new programs.

• Why This Project? The “Web Terminal Simulator” also is a great application to implement. Using EdLab has been a task at many points. Logging in everytime through the terminal followed by verification can become frustrating when you repeatedly want to access your files and resume your work after a short break.

Team Members

• Vicayo Zhang – Project Manager & Core Service Developer

  • First Issue To Work ON: Basic terminal input and output logics
  • Second Issue To Work ON: Log recording logics
  • Third Issue To Work ON: file system simulation logics
  • Fourth Issue To Work ON: some demo on-terminal applications/commands (hello, help, man, and echo)

• Aryan Ghosh – Software Developer & Admin Monitoring

  • First Issue To Work ON: Command input screen
  • Second Issue To Work ON: User Session data
  • Third Issue To Work ON: Project Documentation

• Stella Dey – Debugging & Testing Coordinator

  • First Issue To Work ON: Customizable Theme - (Light/Dark Mode) #17
  • Second Issue To Work ON: File System Structure Data #18
  • Third Issue To Work ON: Project Documentation