Este comando ativará o efeito para qualquer XTerms iniciado mais tarde:
echo XTerm*VT100.TiteInhibit: True|xrdb -merge
De xterm (1) :
titeInhibit (class TiteInhibit)
Specifies whether or not xterm should remove ti and te termcap entries (used to switch between alternate screens on startup of many screen-oriented programs) from the TERMCAP string. If set, xterm also ignores the escape sequence to switch to the alternate screen. Xterm supports terminfo in a different way, supporting composite control sequences (also known as private modes) 1047, 1048 and 1049 which have the same effect as the original 47 control sequence. The default for this resource is “false.”
Coloque a linha XTerm*VT100.TiteInhibit: True
no seu arquivo ~/.Xresources
se quiser que o efeito seja permanente.