diff --git a/kte/Makefile b/kte/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd86be9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kte/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+BIN :=		kte
+OBJS :=		main.o terminal.o input.o
+
+
+LDFLAGS :=	-lncurses
+CFLAGS :=       -pedantic -Wall -Werror -Wextra -O0 -std=c99 -g
+
+.PHONY: all
+all: build
+
+.PHONY: build
+build: $(BIN)
+
+$(BIN): $(OBJS)
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $(OBJS)
+
+.PHONY: clean
+clean:
+	rm -f $(BIN) $(OBJS) *.core 
+
+.PHONY: run
+run: $(BIN)
+	reset
+	./$(BIN) hello.txt
+
+.PHONY: install
+install: $(BIN)
+	cp $(BIN) $(HOME)/bin/
+
+%.o: %.c
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c $<
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kte/defs.h b/kte/defs.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..17d9565
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kte/defs.h
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/*
+ * defs.h
+ * common definitions for kte.
+ */
+
+
+#ifndef KTE_DEFS_H
+#define KTE_DEFS_H
+
+#include <sys/queue.h>
+
+
+#define	KTE_TAB_STOP	8
+#define	KTE_MSG_TIME	5
+
+#define MODE_NORMAL	0
+#define MODE_KCMD	1
+
+
+struct file_buffer {
+	char	*filename;
+	int	 nrows;
+
+	/* where are we in the file? */
+	int	 curx, cury;
+};
+
+
+static struct {
+	WINDOW	*main;
+	WINDOW	*status;
+	WINDOW	*message;
+
+	time_t	 msgtm;
+
+	LIST_HEAD(listhead, file_buffer) listhead;
+} editor;
+
+
+/* terminal.c */
+void	terminal_refresh();
+void	terminal_init();
+void	terminal_deinit();
+void	terminal_message(char *s, int l);
+int	terminal_getch();
+
+/* input.c */
+int	handle_keypress(int c);
+
+
+#endif /* KTE_DEFS_H */
diff --git a/kte/input.c b/kte/input.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9be10a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kte/input.c
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+/*
+ * input.c: process key strokes and what not.
+ */
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+#include "defs.h"
+
+
+/*
+ * given the key, maybe do something with it, and return whether this
+ * means the screen should be refreshed.
+ */
+int
+handle_keypress(int c)
+{
+	static int mode = MODE_NORMAL;
+
+	if (mode == MODE_NORMAL) {
+		printf("%02x\t", c);	
+	}
+
+	return 1;
+}
diff --git a/kte/main.c b/kte/main.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff42766
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kte/main.c
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/*
+ * kyle's text editor
+ *
+ * this is the v2 from-scratch rewrite
+ */
+
+
+#include <curses.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+#include "defs.h"
+
+
+void
+deinit()
+{
+	endwin();
+}
+
+
+int
+main()
+{
+	int	c, up = 1;
+
+	terminal_init();
+	terminal_message("welcome to KTE", 14);
+	terminal_refresh();
+	
+	atexit(terminal_deinit);
+
+	do {
+		if (up)	{
+			terminal_refresh();
+		}
+		c = terminal_getch();
+		up = handle_keypress(c);
+	} while (1);
+
+	return 0;
+}
diff --git a/kte/notes.txt b/kte/notes.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d46d4b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kte/notes.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
++ http://www.cs.ukzn.ac.za/~hughm/os/notes/ncurses.html - useful tutorial
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kte/terminal.c b/kte/terminal.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b5ac37c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kte/terminal.c
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+#include <assert.h>
+#include <curses.h>
+#include <time.h>
+
+#include "defs.h"
+
+
+void
+terminal_refresh()
+{
+	wrefresh(editor.main);
+	wrefresh(editor.status);
+
+	if ((time(NULL) - editor.msgtm) > KTE_MSG_TIME) {
+		wrefresh(editor.message);
+	}
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * init follows the standard ncurses setup process: initialise the
+ * screen, switch to non-buffered input, turn off local echo, and
+ * allow capturing of special keys, which otherwise requires a
+ * gnarly switch statement.
+ *
+ * Then, we need to set up the three windows: the editor main window,
+ * a status line, and a message bar.
+ */
+void
+terminal_init()
+{
+	initscr();
+	cbreak();
+	noecho();
+
+	editor.main = newwin(LINES - 3, COLS-1, 0, 0);
+	assert(editor.main != NULL);
+
+	editor.status = newwin(1, COLS-1, LINES-3, 0);
+	assert(editor.status != NULL);
+	wattron(editor.status, A_REVERSE);	
+
+	editor.message = newwin(1, COLS-1, LINES-2, 0);
+	assert(editor.status != NULL);
+
+	keypad(editor.main, TRUE);
+	keypad(editor.message, TRUE);
+
+	scrollok(editor.message, FALSE);
+	scrollok(editor.status, FALSE);
+
+	editor.msgtm = 0;
+	wmove(editor.main, 0, 0);
+}
+
+
+void
+terminal_deinit()
+{
+	endwin();
+}
+
+
+void
+terminal_message(char *m, int l)
+{
+	if (l > COLS) {
+		l = COLS;
+	}
+
+	for (int i = 0; i < l; i++) {
+		waddch(editor.message, m[i]);
+	}
+
+	editor.msgtm = time(NULL);
+	wrefresh(editor.message);
+}
+
+
+int
+terminal_getch()
+{
+	return wgetch(editor.main);
+}