6 ms·

After trying out alacritty[1] and seeing just how good gpu-accelerated terminal could be I’ve been eagerly awaiting an update like this from iterm. I really wi

After trying out alacritty[1] and seeing just how good gpu-accelerated terminal could be I’ve been eagerly awaiting an update like this from iterm. I really wish iterm was cross platform. I’ve realized when switching between Mac and Linux how important the terminal is to my development and quality of life. 1. https://github.com/jwilm/alacritty https://github.com/jwilm/alacritty

davrot 8y ago
I would recommend kitty[1] as well, it certainly has more features than alacritty, like opening links via keyboard using hints. 1. https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty
- lima 8y ago
  Just had a look at their docs: https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/remote-control.html https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/remote-control.html Cool, it even works over SSH! Wait, what? This lets a remote server take over your workstation.
  - cweagans 8y ago
    ...so don't enable that feature? It's off by default AFAICT.
  - sbilstein 8y ago
    if you're able to get an ssh tunnel going to the machine...i think you already have control over the server
    - danielvf 8y ago
      This optional feature is the other way around. When you turn it on, the connect to a remote servers, that remote server can run commands on your local box.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  I recommend Cool Retro Term. No tabs. Not a lot of features. Emulation can be a little strange. But it's cross-platform and a metric ass ton of fun. https://github.com/Swordfish90/cool-retro-term https://github.com/Swordfish90/cool-retro-term And if you push the settings right, you can use it to convince the procurement department that you need a new monitor.
  - indymike 8y ago
    Cool Retro Term is based on konsole, so it's actually a solid terminal emulater... and like you pointed out... loads of fun.
0x00000000 8y ago
Any idea how it affects battery usage on a laptop with an integrated GPU?
- saagarjha 8y ago
  iTerm actually disables the Metal rederer while on battery by default.
  - _asummers 8y ago
    I think that was the point of their question. While it's disabled by default, if it goes from 12h life to 6h, people will leave disabled. If it goes from 12h to 11.5h, people maybe would consider flipping that toggle.
    - tbrock 8y ago
      Kind of counter intuitive. Wouldn’t the GPU be more efficient at rendering graphics than the CPU? For laptop models with dedicated GPU just use the integrated one on battery but ALWAYS prefer Metal GPU rendering to software.
      - dantiberian 8y ago
        I’m guessing here but given the target of macOS this is done to prevent the GPU from being used. Many apps on macOS can do their drawing on the CPU or via the onboard Intel graphics. Metal presumably would force the GPU on, which would impact battery life.
        tbrock 8y ago
        Except that is not how it works. Metal absolutely works with the integrated GPU.
        ripdog 8y ago
        He wasn't saying metal can render via the cpu, he was saying that macos apps in general can choose whether to use cpu or gpu rendering.
nextos 8y ago
I actually like alacritty, but surprisingly latency is still much higher than on xterm or eshell. These are relatively slow rendering massive amounts of text (eshell much slower than xterm, and lacking many features). However, the feature I price the most is quick responsiveness when I type. For that, I still find xterm extremely good.
- twic 8y ago
  I am surprised to see nobody has posted a link to Dan Luu's article about benchmarking terminal emulator latency: https://danluu.com/term-latency/ https://danluu.com/term-latency/ For me, one of the takeaways from this is that time taken to cat a large file is a poor benchmark of a terminal emulator. This article also includes a nice demonstration of yet another application of Rust - as an easily reproducible and highly reliable way to load your machine so hard it interferes with your terminal.
  - saagarjha 8y ago
    Any low-level language can do that.
c-smile 8y ago
"gpu-accelerated cross platform" is not that hard as it sounds. Here is an example of GPU rendering with support of Acrylic(Windows) / Vibrancy (MacOS) so popular in terminal implementations: https://sciter.com/sciter-4-2-support-of-acrylic-theming/ https://sciter.com/sciter-4-2-support-of-acrylic-theming/
- dagmx 8y ago
  Your link is about html themes? What does it have to do with cross platform, GPU accelerated drawing?
  - mwcampbell 8y ago
    Sciter is an HTML rendering engine. It has to do its drawing somehow, and apparently it uses GPU acceleration across platforms.
ComputerGuru 8y ago
alacritty is meant to be fast, but it isn’t even close yet. The last time I checked there were multiple issues open about it being in reality slower than even terminal.app

davrot 8y ago

I would recommend kitty[1] as well, it certainly has more features than alacritty, like opening links via keyboard using hints. 1. https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty

lima 8y ago
Just had a look at their docs: https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/remote-control.html https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/remote-control.html Cool, it even works over SSH! Wait, what? This lets a remote server take over your workstation.
- cweagans 8y ago
  ...so don't enable that feature? It's off by default AFAICT.
- sbilstein 8y ago
  if you're able to get an ssh tunnel going to the machine...i think you already have control over the server
  - danielvf 8y ago
    This optional feature is the other way around. When you turn it on, the connect to a remote servers, that remote server can run commands on your local box.
reaperducer 8y ago
I recommend Cool Retro Term. No tabs. Not a lot of features. Emulation can be a little strange. But it's cross-platform and a metric ass ton of fun. https://github.com/Swordfish90/cool-retro-term https://github.com/Swordfish90/cool-retro-term And if you push the settings right, you can use it to convince the procurement department that you need a new monitor.
- indymike 8y ago
  Cool Retro Term is based on konsole, so it's actually a solid terminal emulater... and like you pointed out... loads of fun.

0x00000000 8y ago

Any idea how it affects battery usage on a laptop with an integrated GPU?

saagarjha 8y ago
iTerm actually disables the Metal rederer while on battery by default.
- _asummers 8y ago
  I think that was the point of their question. While it's disabled by default, if it goes from 12h life to 6h, people will leave disabled. If it goes from 12h to 11.5h, people maybe would consider flipping that toggle.
  - tbrock 8y ago
    Kind of counter intuitive. Wouldn’t the GPU be more efficient at rendering graphics than the CPU? For laptop models with dedicated GPU just use the integrated one on battery but ALWAYS prefer Metal GPU rendering to software.
    - dantiberian 8y ago
      I’m guessing here but given the target of macOS this is done to prevent the GPU from being used. Many apps on macOS can do their drawing on the CPU or via the onboard Intel graphics. Metal presumably would force the GPU on, which would impact battery life.
      - tbrock 8y ago
        Except that is not how it works. Metal absolutely works with the integrated GPU.
        ripdog 8y ago
        He wasn't saying metal can render via the cpu, he was saying that macos apps in general can choose whether to use cpu or gpu rendering.

nextos 8y ago

I actually like alacritty, but surprisingly latency is still much higher than on xterm or eshell. These are relatively slow rendering massive amounts of text (eshell much slower than xterm, and lacking many features). However, the feature I price the most is quick responsiveness when I type. For that, I still find xterm extremely good.

twic 8y ago
I am surprised to see nobody has posted a link to Dan Luu's article about benchmarking terminal emulator latency: https://danluu.com/term-latency/ https://danluu.com/term-latency/ For me, one of the takeaways from this is that time taken to cat a large file is a poor benchmark of a terminal emulator. This article also includes a nice demonstration of yet another application of Rust - as an easily reproducible and highly reliable way to load your machine so hard it interferes with your terminal.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  Any low-level language can do that.

c-smile 8y ago

"gpu-accelerated cross platform" is not that hard as it sounds. Here is an example of GPU rendering with support of Acrylic(Windows) / Vibrancy (MacOS) so popular in terminal implementations: https://sciter.com/sciter-4-2-support-of-acrylic-theming/ https://sciter.com/sciter-4-2-support-of-acrylic-theming/

dagmx 8y ago
Your link is about html themes? What does it have to do with cross platform, GPU accelerated drawing?
- mwcampbell 8y ago
  Sciter is an HTML rendering engine. It has to do its drawing somehow, and apparently it uses GPU acceleration across platforms.

ComputerGuru 8y ago

alacritty is meant to be fast, but it isn’t even close yet. The last time I checked there were multiple issues open about it being in reality slower than even terminal.app