Lecture on Terminal Emulators

Objective

• Determine the best terminal emulator by reviewing and rating popular terminal emulators with the help of friends (chat).
• Use a tier ranking system from S (best) to F (worst).

Methodology

• Review GitHub pages and features of each terminal.
• Rate terminals based on features, personal experience, and chat feedback.

Terminals Reviewed

Gnome Terminal

• Features:
  • Comes with Ubuntu and Gnome desktop environment.
  • Supports profiles, colored text, background changes, and compatibility for older software.
• Feedback:
  • Widely used but lacks standout features.
  • Rating: D

Terminal App on Mac OS

• Features:
  • Basic terminal emulator included in Mac OS.
• Feedback:
  • Considered boring, mostly used to install other terminals.
  • Rating: F

XFCE4 Terminal

• Features:
  • Lightweight, with tabs, scrolling, colors, and transparency.
• Feedback:
  • Works but lacks excitement.
  • Rating: C

ST Terminal

• Features:
  • Minimal terminal emulator for X environments.
  • Requires patching and recompiling for configuration.
• Feedback:
  • Complex to configure, disliked by many.
  • Rating: F

Warp Terminal

• Features:
  • Includes AI-like suggestions, good history search, and supports open source.
• Feedback:
  • Mixed feelings on telemetry, but praised for features.
  • Rating: A

Alacritty

• Features:
  • Built on Rust, cross-platform, very fast.
  • Lacks image rendering and ligature support.
• Feedback:
  • Highly performant but missing some features.
  • Rating: A

Gosh Terminal

• Features:
  • Built by Mitchell Hashimoto, has image rendering, and terminal inspector.
• Feedback:
  • Praised for features and potential.
  • Rating: S

iTerm2

• Features:
  • Popular on Mac OS, supports tabs, and customization.
• Feedback:
  • Solid but mid, issues with themes.
  • Rating: B

Kitty Terminal

• Features:
  • Supports graphics protocol, very influential.
• Feedback:
  • Loved for performance and influence.
  • Rating: S

Windows Terminal

• Features:
  • Default on Windows, integrates with Powershell.
• Feedback:
  • Mixed reviews, seems solid on Windows.
  • Rating: B

WezTerm

• Features:
  • Supports all OS, ligatures, hyperlinks, multiple panes.
• Feedback:
  • Universally praised, high performance.
  • Rating: S

VS Code Terminal

• Features:
  • Terminal within VS Code, supports tabs, can run Neovim.
• Feedback:
  • Not well liked, considered poor quality.
  • Rating: F

Foot Terminal

• Features:
  • Lightweight, Wayland native, configurable.
• Feedback:
  • Lacks distinct features, not memorable.
  • Rating: C

Summary

• S Tier: Ghosty, Kitty, WezTerm
• A Tier: Warp, Alacritty
• B Tier: iTerm2, Windows Terminal
• C-F Tier: Gnome Terminal, Terminal App on Mac, XFCE4 Terminal, ST Terminal, VS Code Terminal, Foot Terminal

Conclusion

• The tier list is subjective and based on personal and crowd-sourced opinions.
• Factors for rating include performance, features, ease of use, and community support.