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diff --git a/src/blog/termite-has-been-deprecated.html b/src/blog/termite-has-been-deprecated.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..112178c --- /dev/null +++ b/src/blog/termite-has-been-deprecated.html @@ -0,0 +1,74 @@ +title: Termite Has Been Deprecated +date: May 08, 2021 22:23 +--- +<p> +I have been using <a href='https://github.com/thestinger/termite'>termite</a> as +my daily driver terminal emulator for over five years now. Turns out that its +creator and maintainer just announced that he's stopping development and +abandoning the project. The reason? +<a href='https://github.com/alacritty/alacritty'>Alacritty</a>, another terminal +emulator, by termite maintainer's own judgment, is basically strictly better. +</p> + +<p> +My main reasons for using termite were its minimalistic design, keyboard-driven, +vi-like selection mode, and easy configuration. Alacritty, turns out, does all +of these, while also being faster and more secure. +</p> + +<h3>Switching to alacritty</h3> +<p> +On first hearing this, I immediately installed alacritty, just to check out if +it really is a viable option for me. Before the installation completed, my first +instinct was that I would have probably needed about a week or so to tweak my +config and get used to the interface. I was expecting some switching friction. +</p> + +<p> +Turns out there was zero friction. After 5 minutes of test running, I'd set +alacritty to be my default terminal. I'm writing this post from inside +it, and I don't even notice the difference, other than a slightly darker default +color scheme. The vi-like selection mode is still at the familiar +<code>ctrl+shift+space</code> keybinding, and it seems like that was the biggest +termite-specific feature I was used to. +</p> + +<p> +If anything, I'm already seeing big improvements when compared to termite. +Specifically, the vi mode in termite had slight annoying issues: jumping by word +didn't always work exactly the way I expected it to, and when copying selected +text, the cursor actually had to be <em>one</em> character right of the last +character you wanted to copy. I'm not seeing these issues with alacritty's +vi mode, and so far it feels even more intuitive than termite's. +</p> + +<h3>Bonus tip: terminal vs. ssh</h3> +<p> +On the occasion of getting a new terminal, I'm reminded of a very useful +<a href='https://www.yaroslavps.com/weblog/fix-broken-terminal-ssh/'> + blogpost by Yaroslav de la Peña Smirnov +</a> thanks to which I solved a mild annoyance I've had with termite for years. +Basically, when logging into an ssh session on various machines from termite, I +would have weird problems in the shell, the remote machine apparently not +understanding how to communicate properly with my terminal. This would make +commands like <code>clear</code> or <code>tmux</code> not work, or even more +annoyingly, cursor navigation and erasing characters with backspace were broken. +</p> + +<p> +Previously, I had fixed this by hacking environment variables, but you can solve +it much more cleanly with the following: +<pre> +# on your local machine: +infocmp $TERM > $TERM.terminfo +scp $TERM.terminfo <remote machine>:~/ + +# on remote machine: +tic -x $TERM.terminfo +</pre> +</p> + +<p> +I had to repeat this little ritual with alacritty and the remote machines I +frequent, and now everything is working smoothly! +</p> |