2015-08-08 02:11:30 +00:00
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.. image:: imgs/icon_faq.png
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:align: right
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:alt: Because curious cats ask clever code monkeys.
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==========================
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Frequently Asked Questions
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==========================
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Here I'll try to list some common questions that get asked for.
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------
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Why...
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------
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...write in Python? It's slow/bloated/bad?
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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Performance
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~~~~~~~~~~~
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Profiles were configured with command ``bash -c exit``, and the
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commands run a couple of times to get the caches loaded up.
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GNOME-Terminal::
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time for i in {1..30} ; do gnome-terminal --profile=Quickexit; done
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real 0m10.606s
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Terminator::
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time for i in {1..30} ; do terminator -g deletemeconfig -p Quickexit; done
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GTK2: real 0m11.928s A smidgen slower.
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GTK3: real 0m10.885s Yeah, basically identical!
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Cold start, using ``sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches`` before
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each run, then launching a single timed instance.
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Gnome-Terminal::
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time gnome-terminal --profile=Quickexit
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real 0m7.628s (approx median, there was a strange variance for GT, between 5 and 9 secs)
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Terminator::
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time terminator -g deletemeconfig -p Quickexit
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GTK2: real 0m11.390s (median of 3x)
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GTK3: real 0m11.264s (median of 3x)
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OK, so this is the once place you would notice an appreciable
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difference. How often do you start these things with completely empty
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caches/buffers?
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In GTK2 there is a known issue which slows the cat'ing of large files
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quite a bit. The VTE in GTK3 Terminator is the *exact* same widget
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GNOME-Terminal uses, so this will get better, as and when we move
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fully to the in-progress GTK3 port. I should point out that this
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performance deficit is not due to the Python interpreter, or the
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Terminator Python code, but is solely down to the compiled C code VTE
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widget.
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Memory use - The dumb way
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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GNOME-Terminal::
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for i in {1..100} ; do gnome-terminal --disable-factory & done
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root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free # Before startup
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total used free shared buffers cached
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Mem: 3102404 1388776 1713628 4052 164 45340
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-/+ buffers/cache: 1343272 1759132
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Swap: 3121996 788704 2333292
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root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free # After startup
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total used free shared buffers cached
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Mem: 3102404 2439524 662880 57196 1240 99212
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-/+ buffers/cache: 2339072 763332
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Swap: 3121996 751440 2370556
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root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free # After kill
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total used free shared buffers cached
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Mem: 3102404 1466536 1635868 4796 160 45912
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-/+ buffers/cache: 1420464 1681940
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Swap: 3121996 751020 2370976
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Used (used mem -buffers/cache + swap)
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Before start: 2131976
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After start : 3090512 = 958536 kbytes, 936 Mbytes / 9.36 MBytes/instance
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After kill : 2171484 = 39508 kbytes, 38 Mbytes not recovered
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Terminator GTK2::
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for i in {1..100} ; do terminator -g deletemeconfig -u & done
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root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free
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total used free shared buffers cached
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Mem: 3102404 1313456 1788948 4284 152 43844
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-/+ buffers/cache: 1269460 1832944
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Swap: 3121996 736844 2385152
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root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free
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total used free shared buffers cached
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Mem: 3102404 2866552 235852 19484 1084 65408
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-/+ buffers/cache: 2800060 302344
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Swap: 3121996 736340 2385656
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root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free
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total used free shared buffers cached
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Mem: 3102404 1317724 1784680 4284 152 43464
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-/+ buffers/cache: 1274108 1828296
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Swap: 3121996 736304 2385692
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Used (used mem -buffers/cache + swap)
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before start: 2006304
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after start : 3536400 = 1530096 kbytes, 1494 Mbytes / 14.94 MBytes/instance
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after kill : 2010412 = 4108 kbytes, 4 Mbytes not recovered
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Terminator GTK3::
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for i in {1..100} ; do terminator -g deletemeconfig -u & done
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root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free
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total used free shared buffers cached
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Mem: 3102404 1467204 1635200 4816 120 46132
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-/+ buffers/cache: 1420952 1681452
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Swap: 3121996 751000 2370996
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root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free
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total used free shared buffers cached
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Mem: 3102404 2848372 254032 7216 960 52652
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-/+ buffers/cache: 2794760 307644
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Swap: 3121996 750016 2371980
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root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free
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total used free shared buffers cached
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Mem: 3102404 1483388 1619016 4820 148 46084
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-/+ buffers/cache: 1437156 1665248
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Swap: 3121996 749828 2372168
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Used (used mem -buffers/cache + swap)
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before start: 2171952
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after start : 3544776 = 1372824 kbytes, 1340 Mbytes / 13.41 MBytes/instance
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after kill : 2186984 = 15032 kbytes, 15 Mbytes not recovered
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OK, so yes, there is more overhead. We did just start 100 Python
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interpreters! As titled, this is dumb, and even if you use this dumb
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method, are you really going to have a hundred of them?...
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Memory use - The sensible way
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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GNOME-Terminal::
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gnome-terminal &
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for i in {1..100} ; do gnome-terminal & done
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root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free # Before 100
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total used free shared buffers cached
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Mem: 3102404 1490996 1611408 5344 172 47580
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-/+ buffers/cache: 1443244 1659160
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Swap: 3121996 749776 2372220
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root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free # After 100
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total used free shared buffers cached
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Mem: 3102404 1878228 1224176 5344 172 47388
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-/+ buffers/cache: 1830668 1271736
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Swap: 3121996 733396 2388600
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root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free # After kill
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total used free shared buffers cached
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Mem: 3102404 1491888 1610516 4840 272 46088
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-/+ buffers/cache: 1445528 1656876
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Swap: 3121996 733240 2388756
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Used (used mem -buffers/cache + swap)
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Before start: 2193020
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After start : 2564064 = 371044 kbytes, 362 Mbytes / 3.59 MBytes/instance
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After kill : 2178768 = −14252 kbytes, -13.92 Mbytes recovered (first process)
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Terminator GTK2::
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terminator -g deletemeconfig &
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for i in {1..100} ; do terminator -g deletemeconfig -u & done
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root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free
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total used free shared buffers cached
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Mem: 3102404 1324492 1777912 4388 152 49688
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-/+ buffers/cache: 1274652 1827752
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Swap: 3121996 744528 2377468
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root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free
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total used free shared buffers cached
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Mem: 3102404 1652112 1450292 4756 860 49968
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-/+ buffers/cache: 1601284 1501120
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Swap: 3121996 744224 2377772
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root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free
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total used free shared buffers cached
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Mem: 3102404 1305376 1797028 4236 124 42836
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-/+ buffers/cache: 1262416 1839988
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Swap: 3121996 744116 2377880
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Used (used mem -buffers/cache + swap)
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before start: 2019180
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after start : 2345508 = 326328 kbytes, 319 Mbytes / 3.16 MBytes/instance
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after kill : 2006532 = −12648 kbytes, -12.35 Mbytes recovered (first process)
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Terminator GTK3::
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Not possible at the moment because the DBus interface still needs fixing.
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So that one surprised me a bit. The fact that when using the single
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process we are **more** memory efficient. Python + 100 terminals is
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using <90% of the GNOME-Terminal + 100 terminals.
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Some may think that this is something to do with the different version
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of the VTE widget, but hang on a second. In the dumb method GTK2
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Terminator used **more** memory than GTK3. Once the DBus is fixed for
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GTK3 there could potentially be more savings.
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"Python sucks!"
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Yeah, whatever. The fact is that I'm a helluva lot more productive in
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Python than I ever was, am, or will be, in C. In my totally biased
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and uninformed opinion, I also think certain things are *much* easier
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to get working in Python because you can iterate faster. With the
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2015-08-08 04:27:53 +00:00
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:ref:`debugging` option to run an interactive terminal you even
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have the ability to try out ideas and explore the running instance
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directly. Results don't get more immediate than that!
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In summary
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~~~~~~~~~~
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It's a bit slower on startup, it takes a bit more memory, but that's
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when you use the dumb method. In normal use, where you're likely to
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be using the existing process to open a new window, it is for all
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practical purposes as fast as the compiled GNOME-Terminal. It may
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even (according to the last memory section) be a little lighter
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memory wise, and more obliging about giving it back!
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I didn't compare to things like xterm, because frankly we're not
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aimed at the same people. Personally I'd rather have the more
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extensive features saving me *lots* of time over the course of the
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day when using it, than save a handful of seconds every few days
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when I restart it, or worrying about an extra 5 or 10 MBytes.
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-----------
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How do I...
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-----------
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...make Terminator work like Quake style terminals?
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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You can get close, but it isn't a perfect recreation, as Terminator
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was not designed with this in mind, but improvements are always welcome!
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- Window state: Hidden
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- Always on top: On
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- Show on all workspaces: On
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- Hide on lose focus: On
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- Hide from taskbar
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- Window borders: Off (use ``Alt``\ +\ ``click-drag`` and
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``Alt``\ +\ ``right-click-drag`` to position and size window.)
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- Set the Toggle window visibility shortcut to your preference
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.. note:: It must be the first Terminator instance started, because
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at present only the first instance can bind to the Window
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toggle.
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This will give you a terminal hidden at startup that appears with a
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keypress and disappears, either with another keypress, or losing focus.
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It will stay on top, and appear on whichever workspace you are on.
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Something that we don't have is the slide in action of a true Quake
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style terminal. The terminal will simply flick into view, and flick
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out of view.
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.. warning:: The Hide on lose focus option is problematic at this
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time. You will probably find it very frustrating.
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