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I installed ubuntu from the minimalcd because I just want to use vim and command line tools.

However I would like more than 80 columns of text. I have a large monitor so I would like at least a couple hundred columns so I can split panes in vim and have several windows open.

BTW ubuntu is installed as a VMWare Player VM. I have already verified that the VM settings are for a large monitor; it seems that my ubuntu setup is at issue.

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The variable $COLUMNS specifies how wide the terminal session is; so running COLUMNS=200 would make it 200 columns wide.

If you wanted to change that permanently you should put this in your ~/.bashrc file which is run every time you start a terminal.

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I added COLUMNS=200 to ~/.bashrc, then logged out and back in, but it didn't seem to help. I should point out that I don't even install any kind of graphical desktop, since I wanted it totally lean b/c it's in a VM on a laptop that's a few years old. That's why I went with ubuntu minimal. So it seems that the terminal is already started before I even have a chance to login and run my .bashrc... – Kevin Pauli Nov 20 '12 at 0:19
In that case, it's likely that the width is determined by the getty program, which creates the command line interface you see on ubuntu minimal & server; I'll have a look into it – jackweirdy Nov 20 '12 at 13:20
Thanks, I appreciate it. In case it is not going to be possible, and I do end up needing a desktop, I have asked another question here: askubuntu.com/questions/219841/… about which is the lightest weight desktop to give me what I need. – Kevin Pauli Nov 20 '12 at 17:01

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