[ILUG] Using linux as a multiport serial box

[Wesley Darlington]

Hi folks,

Does anybody know of any good software for talking to a serial port from
a linux box? 

Some background: I have a windows box. Connected over a serial link to
a router via hyperterminal. Whenever I want to talk to the router, I vnc 
to the windows box. Whenever anybody else wants to talk to this router,
they kick me off my vnc connection and just take over. Often, they ask
me first.

Now, the windows box has another serial port, which is connected to
(for all intents and purposes) another router. I cannot talk to this other
router at the same time as somebody is talking to the first router. There
can be only one VNC user.

Now, apart from this lack of multiplexing, the system works rather well.
Hyperterminal is tolerably nice. It's very simple, and it always works.
Also, when I have finished, I don't have to do anything special - I
don't have to free up any resources, unlock any serial ports, relinquish
any magic cookies. I just have to not mind if somebody grabs my vnc
connection.

Now, I also have a linux box with multiple serial ports in this room.
I'd like to be able to connect *its* two serial ports up to these two
devices. And have folk ssh into the linux box and access the two
devices. (And any other devices I put down there, if I get
more serial ports for my linux box.)

My first problem is that I know of no nice serial port software for 
linux, like windows' hyperterminal. I rather dislike minicom and 
microcom. Does anybody know of any "nice" serial port software?

Especially software (or some configuration thereof) that makes it
trivial to have multiple people accessing multiple serial ports.
In an idiot-proof way. Ideally, it'll easy for somebody to "kick
somebody else off" a particular serial port. In a way that tends
to make it hard to break things. 

At some point I might go mad and buy one of those dedicated serial
port multiplexing boxes, but a linux-based solution would be preferable.

Thoughts? :-)

Thanks,
Wesley.