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 terminalsIosevkaTerm Nerd Font - Beautiful programming font with icon supportTransparency & blur effects - Modern aesthetic with 85-96% opacitymacOS 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
For Features
For Aesthetics
For macOS
Alacritty or Ghostty If raw performance is your priority:
Alacritty - The original speed champion, battle-tested and rock-solidGhostty - Newer but incredibly fast, with modern features Both are written in systems languages (Rust/Zig) and optimized for minimal latency. WezTerm or Kitty If you want advanced functionality:
WezTerm - Lua scripting, built-in multiplexing, extensive customizationKitty - Powerful tiling, kittens (plugins), image protocol Both support images, tabs, and advanced terminal features out of the box. Ghostty or Kitty If visual customization matters:
Ghostty - Custom GLSL shaders, smooth cursor effects, modern blurKitty - Custom shaders, ligatures, precise rendering control The Ghostty config includes 50+ shader options for cursor trails and effects. Ghostty or WezTerm For the best macOS experience:
Ghostty - Native macOS feel with modern Swift/Metal integrationWezTerm - Cross-platform consistency with great macOS support Both handle macOS quirks (Option key, blur, etc.) elegantly. Installation
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
Choose your terminal
Alacritty
WezTerm
Kitty
Ghostty
# macOS brew install --cask alacritty # Linux (Ubuntu/Debian) sudo add-apt-repository ppa:aslatter/ppa sudo apt install alacritty
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 ] size = 14 -16 family = "IosevkaTerm NF"
Transparency (TOML)
Transparency (Lua)
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.).
