I'm not sure what the problem is. I thought I'd let you know about dtach:
dtach is a program that emulates the
detach feature of screen. It is
designed to be transparent and
un-intrusive; it avoids interpreting
the input and output between attached
terminals and the program under its
control. Consequently, it works best
with full-screen applications such as
emacs.
dtach is intended for users who want
the detach feature of screen without
the other overhead of screen. It is
tiny, does not use many libraries, and
stays out of the way as much as
possible.
I use it all the time. Screen is overkill for me. Sounds like it might work for you as well.
EDIT: usage example
Here is what I do for switching. It might be too much hassle for you. Though maybe you could make some aliases in your bash rc file. dtach works with socket files. So first I:
# dtach -A firsttask bash
Then start whatever task in the bash shell. Then leave it that dtach "session"
Ctrl-\
Start another dtach session:
# dtach -A secondtask bash
Using -A rather than -a will create the socket if it does not exist. If it does exist, it will not execute the specified command, just connect.
So if you want a set up with certain tasks that you always do, like you describe, it is possible. Bash aliases will make this convenient. You'll have one key stroke (Ctrl-\) to disconnect, and then an alias to connect. So a few more key strokes than screen.
You could make an alias for
alias log='dtach -A tailtask tail -f /var/log/messages'
in your .bashrc file and then just punch in 'log' and hit enter. If you dtach, it keeps running.
I just like dtach because it is small and I thought it was so cool how I can connect to the same socket twice. This means I can do "online" nix training for my friends who want to use the "new cool ubuntu thing". :P You can probably do something similar with screen I guess.
