Byobu vs p2pmux

Byobu is a free, GPLv3-licensed text-based window manager and terminal multiplexer for Linux, BSD, and macOS. It runs over tmux or GNU Screen and adds function-key controls, status notifications, profiles, and split-pane layouts. Users can create, rename, reorder, split, zoom, and synchronize windows and panes, then save layouts for restoration or define repeatable window sets in configuration files. Detaching and reattaching preserves windows, processes, and history, with up to 10,000 lines of scrollback per window. A two-line status bar can display CPU, memory, disk, network, battery, load, time, and other indicators, each independently toggleable. The interactive F9 menu changes notifications, keybinding sets, profiles, and backend selection. Byobu defaults to tmux when available but supports GNU Screen and switching through byobu-select-backend. The project requires tmux 1.5 or later and/or GNU Screen. Support is largely volunteer-led through GitHub Issues and StackExchange.

p2pmux is a free peer-to-peer terminal multiplexer for connecting people and machines to one shared session. Each pane runs a real shell on the machine of the person who opened it, using that host's tools and environment. Shared sessions can have up to 8 members, 9 tabs, and 8 panes per tab, with nested splits. Terminal streaming is end-to-end encrypted and peer-to-peer, with an iroh relay available when NAT requires it. If the coordinator laptop closes, panes on other machines continue running, but layout changes and new joins pause. Processes and credential files remain on the pane host rather than being uploaded to peers. The agent inbox can show detected coding agents and open a pane for terminal input. Anyone with a join code or ticket can see every pane and interact with terminals; join codes last six hours. The project supports macOS and Linux, not Windows. Linux builds require glibc 2.35 or newer, while musl systems must build from source. It is released under the MIT license.