Ask HN: Which Linux terminal emulator do you prefer and why?

#1

Post by endorphine » Fri, Aug 12, 2022, 9:21 PM UTC

I was thinking that the terminal emulator of my Debian installation is one of the most unknown yet widely used tools of my setup. I know my editor, window manager and shell better than my terminal emulator.

Currently I use urxvt on Debian. But I'm not sure why - it wasn't a conscious choice. I think it comes by default with i3 or something.

Anyway, Linux users, which terminal emulator would you suggest and why? (I'm on Debian in case that makes a difference.)

Re: Ask HN: Which Linux terminal emulator do you prefer and why?

#2

Post by bediger4000 » Fri, Aug 12, 2022, 9:26 PM UTC

Vanilla xterm.

It uses a lot less resources than any other emulator. Thomas Dickey keeps it updated. It has an unusual, but usable scroll bar. You can configure cut-n-paste to help you with command line work. You can change what a "word" is for cutting/copying to include /, ., *, so working with Unix file names is easier.

Re: Ask HN: Which Linux terminal emulator do you prefer and why?

#3

Post by pmontra » Fri, Aug 12, 2022, 9:32 PM UTC

Gnome Terminal because it's the default in Ubuntu and does what I need. I should give a try to kitty after I read about it here on HN weeks ago.

Re: Ask HN: Which Linux terminal emulator do you prefer and why?

#4

Post by katdork » Fri, Aug 12, 2022, 9:35 PM UTC

wezterm, because it seems to have all the functions I want (ligatures, RGBA OSC, proper OSC support for base16) and is written in Rust, has sane configuration and nice platform support

Re: Ask HN: Which Linux terminal emulator do you prefer and why?

#5

Post by KMnO4 » Fri, Aug 12, 2022, 9:44 PM UTC

I use Kitty because it’s incredibly quick (especially with the -1 flag). I use a tiling window manager and can flood my screen with dozens of terminal windows in under a second.

Probably not a big deal for most, but I mostly live in the shell.

Kitty isn’t the best feature wise though. Even config changes are tedious.

Re: Ask HN: Which Linux terminal emulator do you prefer and why?

#6

Post by ivanjermakov » Fri, Aug 12, 2022, 9:45 PM UTC

- Suckless' st for its launching speed and simplicity

- Alacritty for better keycode support

Re: Ask HN: Which Linux terminal emulator do you prefer and why?

#7

Post by kipari » Fri, Aug 12, 2022, 9:48 PM UTC

bediger4000 wrote: post #2

Vanilla xterm. It uses a lot less resources than any other emulator. Thomas Dickey keeps it updated. It has an unusual, but usable scroll bar. You can configure cut-n-paste to help you with command line work. You can change what a "word" is for cutting/copying to include /, ., *, so working with Unix file names is easier.

Additionally, xterm starts quickly, has an incredibly responsive feel (the latency from keyboard press to a character appearing is lower than any other terminal emulator I've used) and looks absolutely stunning with a nice bitmap font.