Editing Minicom

{{Short description|Terminal emulator}}
{{About||the textphone|Telecommunications device for the deaf}}
{{Other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2010}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Minicom
| logo = 
| logo alt = 
| logo caption = 
| screenshot = Minicom cs xterm.png
| screenshot alt = 
| caption = Minicom run in an [[X11]] [[xterm]] window
| collapsible = 
| author = Miquel van Smoorenburg
| developer = Adam Lackorzynski
| released = 
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|P348|P548=Q2804309}}                                             | latest release date    = {{Start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}|df=yes}}
| latest preview version = 
| latest preview date = 
| repo = {{URL|salsa.debian.org/minicom-team/minicom}}
| programming language = [[C (programming language)|C]]
| operating system = [[Linux]], [[POSIX]]
| platform = [[Cross-platform software|Cross-platform]]
| genre = [[Terminal emulator]]
| license = [[GNU General Public License#Version 2|GNU General Public License v2.0]]
| website = {{URL|salsa.debian.org/minicom-team/minicom}}
}}
[[File:SECS.png|thumb|Minicom running a Windows Server 2003 EMS prompt]]

'''Minicom''' is a [[text-based user interface|text-based]] [[modem]] control and [[terminal emulator]] program for [[Unix-like]] operating systems including [[Cygwin]], originally written by [[Miquel van Smoorenburg]], and modeled somewhat after the popular [[MS-DOS]] program [[Telix]] but is open source. Minicom includes a dialing directory, [[ANSI X3.64|ANSI]] and [[VT100]] [[emulator|emulation]], an (external) [[scripting language]], and other features. Minicom is a menu-driven communications program. It also has an auto [[ZMODEM]] download. It now comes packaged in most major Linux distribution repositories such as [[Debian]], [[Ubuntu]] and [[Arch Linux|Arch]] Linux.

A common use for Minicom is when setting up a remote [[serial console]], perhaps as a last resort to access a computer if the [[Local area network|LAN]] is down. This can be done using nothing more than a [[Intel 80386|386]] laptop with a Minicom [[Lightweight Linux distribution|floppy distribution]] such as [[Pitux]] or [[Serial Terminal Linux]].  For this purpose, though, one may use [[Kermit (protocol)|Kermit]] on DOS, such as [[FreeDOS]], does not need Linux so can use a [[Intel 80286|286]] or possibly an [[8086]] or [[8088]].

Minicom is useful to create console for devices having no display such as switches, routers or server blade enclosure. It is also useful for data logging output from serial devices such as [[Arduino Uno]]. Minicom has some beneficial features that are not available in all terminal based serial communication programs such as adding operating system timestamp to serial data.

== See also ==
* [[tip (Unix utility)]]
* [[PuTTY]]
* [[Tera Term]]
* [[List of terminal emulators|List of Terminal Emulators]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/minicom.1.html minicom(1)] – Linux User Commands Manual
* [[File:Screenshot from 2022-12-10 13-23-52.png|alt=Minicom running on a linux laptop.|thumb|Minicom running on Debian with output from a serial device. The timestamp is generated by minicom timestamp option.]]{{Cite web
|url = http://oreilly.com/catalog/debian/chapter/book/ch11_07.html
|title = 11.7 Using minicom and seyon
|work = Learning Debian GNU/Linux
|author = Bill McCarty
|publisher = [[O'Reilly & Associates]]
|date = September 1999
|accessdate = 8 March 2009
}}

{{Terminal emulator}}

[[Category:Free communication software]]
[[Category:Free software programmed in C]]
[[Category:Free terminal emulators]]


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