How to Make Ubuntu’s Terminal Open Wider

Ubuntu comes with a nice set of programs preinstalled. One of them is Gnome-Terminal. By default, gnome-terminal opens too narrow a window for me. Right away after installing Ubuntu I find myself typing (or pasting) lots of commands and I prefer to be able to fit a decent-sized command at the command-line without it wrapping to the next line. Read on to learn how to make an easy shortcut button for a custom-sized Gnome Terminal.

I learned that the window size can be specified when calling Terminal – Just go:
gnome-terminal --geometry 150x22
The “geometry” refers to the size of the program window. It is expressed in characters rather than pixels. I have a small-screen laptop and I like the above parameters. I use that command as a launcher button in my panel. To do that, right-click your panel at a place where you want the launcher-button. Click “Add to Panel”. Click “Custom Application Launcher”. For ‘Type’, Choose “Application”. Type Terminal or whatever you want to call it under “Name” and paste the above command into the “Command:” area. Modify the “150×22″ to suit your needs. “150″ is the width and “22″ the height. Then click “OK” and you’ve got yourself a custom gnome-terminal button! Of course, it’s easy to change the parameters of your new button by right-clicking it and choosing “Properties” to modify them. The properties, I mean.