Terminal Emulators Overview

Choose the perfect terminal emulator for your Gentleman.Dots setup

Gentleman.Dots includes pre-configured setups for four modern, GPU-accelerated terminal emulators. Each offers unique features while sharing a consistent aesthetic and workflow.

Terminal Comparison

Alacritty

Blazingly fast, minimalist

Pure speed with minimal features. Written in Rust for maximum performance.

WezTerm

Feature-rich, Lua-powered

Extensive customization with Lua scripting. Built-in multiplexing and image support.

Kitty

Fast & extensible

GPU rendering with powerful features. Excellent for tiling and image protocols.

Ghostty

Modern & native

Native macOS/Linux terminal with custom shaders and incredible performance.

Shared Features

All terminal configurations in Gentleman.Dots include:

• Kanagawa-inspired color scheme - Consistent dark theme across all terminals
• IosevkaTerm Nerd Font - Beautiful programming font with icon support
• Transparency & blur effects - Modern aesthetic with 85-96% opacity
• macOS Option key fixes - Proper Alt key support for navigation (Alt+f, Alt+b)
• GPU acceleration - Smooth rendering and performance

Quick Comparison

Feature	Alacritty	WezTerm	Kitty	Ghostty
Language	Rust	Rust	C/Python	Zig
Config Format	TOML	Lua	Conf	Conf
Multiplexing	No	Built-in	Yes	Yes
Image Protocol	No	Kitty protocol	Kitty protocol	Yes
Custom Shaders	No	No	Yes	Yes
Tab Bar	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Startup Speed	⚡⚡⚡	⚡⚡	⚡⚡	⚡⚡⚡
Resource Usage	Minimal	Moderate	Low	Minimal
Customization	Basic	Extensive	Extensive	Growing

Which Terminal Should You Choose?

For Speed

Alacritty or Ghostty

If raw performance is your priority:

• Alacritty - The original speed champion, battle-tested and rock-solid
• Ghostty - Newer but incredibly fast, with modern features

Both are written in systems languages (Rust/Zig) and optimized for minimal latency.

For Features

WezTerm or Kitty

If you want advanced functionality:

• WezTerm - Lua scripting, built-in multiplexing, extensive customization
• Kitty - Powerful tiling, kittens (plugins), image protocol

Both support images, tabs, and advanced terminal features out of the box.

For Aesthetics

Ghostty or Kitty

If visual customization matters:

• Ghostty - Custom GLSL shaders, smooth cursor effects, modern blur
• Kitty - Custom shaders, ligatures, precise rendering control

The Ghostty config includes 50+ shader options for cursor trails and effects.

For macOS

Ghostty or WezTerm

For the best macOS experience:

• Ghostty - Native macOS feel with modern Swift/Metal integration
• WezTerm - Cross-platform consistency with great macOS support

Both handle macOS quirks (Option key, blur, etc.) elegantly.

Installation

1. Install IosevkaTerm Nerd Font

   All terminals require the IosevkaTerm Nerd Font:

   # macOS
   brew tap homebrew/cask-fonts
   brew install font-iosevka-term-nerd-font
   
   # Linux
   # Download from https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts
   # Or use the install-linux-mac.sh script
   
2. Choose your terminal

   Alacritty

   # macOS
   brew install --cask alacritty
   
   # Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
   sudo add-apt-repository ppa:aslatter/ppa
   sudo apt install alacritty
   
3. Link configuration files

   Use the installation script or manually link configs:

   # Automated
   bash install-linux-mac.sh
   
   # Manual
   ln -sf ~/Gentleman.Dots/alacritty.toml ~/.config/alacritty/alacritty.toml
   ln -sf ~/Gentleman.Dots/.wezterm.lua ~/.wezterm.lua
   ln -sf ~/Gentleman.Dots/GentlemanKitty ~/.config/kitty
   ln -sf ~/Gentleman.Dots/GentlemanGhostty ~/.config/ghostty
   

Common Configuration

All terminals share these core settings:

Font (TOML)

[font]
size = 14-16
family = "IosevkaTerm NF"

Transparency (TOML)

[window]
opacity = 0.96

Color Scheme: All terminals use variations of the Kanagawa theme - a beautiful dark color scheme inspired by the famous Japanese painting “The Great Wave off Kanagawa”.

Next Steps

Alacritty Setup

Minimal, blazingly fast terminal

WezTerm Setup

Feature-rich Lua configuration

Kitty Setup

GPU-accelerated with extensions

Ghostty Setup

Modern terminal with custom shaders

Pro tip: You can install multiple terminals and switch between them. All configs are designed to work harmoniously with the rest of your Gentleman.Dots setup (Zsh, Fish, Nushell, Tmux, etc.).