<!DOCTYPE html> <!--[if IE 8]><html class="no-js lt-ie9" lang="en" > <![endif]--> <!--[if gt IE 8]><!--> <html class="no-js" lang="en" > <!--<![endif]--> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <title>Frequently Asked Questions — Terminator 1.0 alpha documentation</title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="_static/css/theme.css" type="text/css" /> <link rel="top" title="Terminator 1.0 alpha documentation" href="index.html"/> <link rel="next" title="Getting involved" href="gettinginvolved.html"/> <link rel="prev" title="Advanced Usage" href="advancedusage.html"/> <script src="_static/js/modernizr.min.js"></script> </head> <body class="wy-body-for-nav" role="document"> <div class="wy-grid-for-nav"> <nav data-toggle="wy-nav-shift" class="wy-nav-side"> <div class="wy-side-nav-search"> <a href="index.html" class="icon icon-home"> Terminator </a> <div role="search"> <form id="rtd-search-form" class="wy-form" action="search.html" 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class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="#why">Why...</a><ul> <li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="#write-in-python-it-s-slow-bloated-bad">...write in Python? It’s slow/bloated/bad?</a><ul> <li class="toctree-l4"><a class="reference internal" href="#performance">Performance</a></li> <li class="toctree-l4"><a class="reference internal" href="#memory-use-the-dumb-way">Memory use - The dumb way</a></li> <li class="toctree-l4"><a class="reference internal" href="#memory-use-the-sensible-way">Memory use - The sensible way</a></li> <li class="toctree-l4"><a class="reference internal" href="#python-sucks">“Python sucks!”</a></li> <li class="toctree-l4"><a class="reference internal" href="#in-summary">In summary</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="#how-do-i">How do I...</a><ul> <li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="#make-terminator-work-like-quake-style-terminals">...make Terminator work like Quake style terminals?</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="gettinginvolved.html">Getting involved</a><ul> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="gettinginvolved.html#translations">Translations</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="gettinginvolved.html#improve-icons-artwork">Improve icons/artwork</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="gettinginvolved.html#terminator-action-shots">Terminator action shots</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="gettinginvolved.html#manual-updates">Manual updates</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="gettinginvolved.html#testing">Testing</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="gettinginvolved.html#bugs">Bugs</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="gettinginvolved.html#plugins">Plugins</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="gettinginvolved.html#main-application-development">Main Application Development</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="gettinginvolved.html#gtk3-port">GTK3 Port</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="gettinginvolved.html#terminator-api-docs">Terminator API Docs</a></li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="gettinginvolved.html#other-docs-for-developers">Other Docs for Developers</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </nav> <section data-toggle="wy-nav-shift" class="wy-nav-content-wrap"> <nav class="wy-nav-top" role="navigation" aria-label="top navigation"> <i data-toggle="wy-nav-top" class="fa fa-bars"></i> <a href="index.html">Terminator</a> </nav> <div class="wy-nav-content"> <div class="rst-content"> <div role="navigation" aria-label="breadcrumbs navigation"> <ul class="wy-breadcrumbs"> <li><a href="index.html">Docs</a> »</li> <li>Frequently Asked Questions</li> <li class="wy-breadcrumbs-aside"> <a href="_sources/faq.txt" rel="nofollow"> View page source</a> </li> </ul> <hr/> </div> <div role="main" class="document"> <img alt="Because curious cats ask clever code monkeys." class="align-right" src="_images/icon_faq.png" /> <div class="section" id="frequently-asked-questions"> <h1>Frequently Asked Questions<a class="headerlink" href="#frequently-asked-questions" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1> <p>Here I’ll try to list some common questions that get asked for.</p> <div class="section" id="why"> <h2>Why...<a class="headerlink" href="#why" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2> <div class="section" id="write-in-python-it-s-slow-bloated-bad"> <h3>...write in Python? It’s slow/bloated/bad?<a class="headerlink" href="#write-in-python-it-s-slow-bloated-bad" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <div class="section" id="performance"> <h4>Performance<a class="headerlink" href="#performance" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h4> <dl class="docutils"> <dt>Profiles were configured with command <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">bash</span> <span class="pre">-c</span> <span class="pre">exit</span></code>, and the</dt> <dd>commands run a couple of times to get the caches loaded up.</dd> </dl> <p>GNOME-Terminal:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre>time for i in {1..30} ; do gnome-terminal --profile=Quickexit; done real 0m10.606s </pre></div> </div> <p>Terminator:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre>time for i in {1..30} ; do terminator -g deletemeconfig -p Quickexit; done GTK2: real 0m11.928s A smidgen slower. GTK3: real 0m10.885s Yeah, basically identical! </pre></div> </div> <p>Cold start, using <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sync</span> <span class="pre">&&</span> <span class="pre">echo</span> <span class="pre">3</span> <span class="pre">></span> <span class="pre">/proc/sys/vm/drop_caches</span></code> before each run, then launching a single timed instance.</p> <p>Gnome-Terminal:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre>time gnome-terminal --profile=Quickexit real 0m7.628s (approx median, there was a strange variance for GT, between 5 and 9 secs) </pre></div> </div> <p>Terminator:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre>time terminator -g deletemeconfig -p Quickexit GTK2: real 0m11.390s (median of 3x) GTK3: real 0m11.264s (median of 3x) </pre></div> </div> <p>OK, so this is the once place you would notice an appreciable difference. How often do you start these things with completely empty caches/buffers?</p> <p>In GTK2 there is a known issue which slows the cat’ing of large files quite a bit. The VTE in GTK3 Terminator is the <em>exact</em> same widget GNOME-Terminal uses, so this will get better, as and when we move fully to the in-progress GTK3 port. I should point out that this performance deficit is not due to the Python interpreter, or the Terminator Python code, but is solely down to the compiled C code VTE widget.</p> </div> <div class="section" id="memory-use-the-dumb-way"> <h4>Memory use - The dumb way<a class="headerlink" href="#memory-use-the-dumb-way" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h4> <p>GNOME-Terminal:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre> for i in {1..100} ; do gnome-terminal --disable-factory & done root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free # Before startup total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 3102404 1388776 1713628 4052 164 45340 -/+ buffers/cache: 1343272 1759132 Swap: 3121996 788704 2333292 root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free # After startup total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 3102404 2439524 662880 57196 1240 99212 -/+ buffers/cache: 2339072 763332 Swap: 3121996 751440 2370556 root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free # After kill total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 3102404 1466536 1635868 4796 160 45912 -/+ buffers/cache: 1420464 1681940 Swap: 3121996 751020 2370976 Used (used mem -buffers/cache + swap) Before start: 2131976 After start : 3090512 = 958536 kbytes, 936 Mbytes / 9.36 MBytes/instance After kill : 2171484 = 39508 kbytes, 38 Mbytes not recovered </pre></div> </div> <p>Terminator GTK2:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre>for i in {1..100} ; do terminator -g deletemeconfig -u & done root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 3102404 1313456 1788948 4284 152 43844 -/+ buffers/cache: 1269460 1832944 Swap: 3121996 736844 2385152 root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 3102404 2866552 235852 19484 1084 65408 -/+ buffers/cache: 2800060 302344 Swap: 3121996 736340 2385656 root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 3102404 1317724 1784680 4284 152 43464 -/+ buffers/cache: 1274108 1828296 Swap: 3121996 736304 2385692 Used (used mem -buffers/cache + swap) before start: 2006304 after start : 3536400 = 1530096 kbytes, 1494 Mbytes / 14.94 MBytes/instance after kill : 2010412 = 4108 kbytes, 4 Mbytes not recovered </pre></div> </div> <p>Terminator GTK3:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre>for i in {1..100} ; do terminator -g deletemeconfig -u & done root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 3102404 1467204 1635200 4816 120 46132 -/+ buffers/cache: 1420952 1681452 Swap: 3121996 751000 2370996 root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 3102404 2848372 254032 7216 960 52652 -/+ buffers/cache: 2794760 307644 Swap: 3121996 750016 2371980 root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 3102404 1483388 1619016 4820 148 46084 -/+ buffers/cache: 1437156 1665248 Swap: 3121996 749828 2372168 Used (used mem -buffers/cache + swap) before start: 2171952 after start : 3544776 = 1372824 kbytes, 1340 Mbytes / 13.41 MBytes/instance after kill : 2186984 = 15032 kbytes, 15 Mbytes not recovered </pre></div> </div> <p>OK, so yes, there is more overhead. We did just start 100 Python interpreters! As titled, this is dumb, and even if you use this dumb method, are you really going to have a hundred of them?...</p> </div> <div class="section" id="memory-use-the-sensible-way"> <h4>Memory use - The sensible way<a class="headerlink" href="#memory-use-the-sensible-way" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h4> <p>GNOME-Terminal:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre>gnome-terminal & for i in {1..100} ; do gnome-terminal & done root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free # Before 100 total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 3102404 1490996 1611408 5344 172 47580 -/+ buffers/cache: 1443244 1659160 Swap: 3121996 749776 2372220 root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free # After 100 total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 3102404 1878228 1224176 5344 172 47388 -/+ buffers/cache: 1830668 1271736 Swap: 3121996 733396 2388600 root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free # After kill total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 3102404 1491888 1610516 4840 272 46088 -/+ buffers/cache: 1445528 1656876 Swap: 3121996 733240 2388756 Used (used mem -buffers/cache + swap) Before start: 2193020 After start : 2564064 = 371044 kbytes, 362 Mbytes / 3.59 MBytes/instance After kill : 2178768 = −14252 kbytes, -13.92 Mbytes recovered (first process) </pre></div> </div> <p>Terminator GTK2:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre>terminator -g deletemeconfig & for i in {1..100} ; do terminator -g deletemeconfig -u & done root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 3102404 1324492 1777912 4388 152 49688 -/+ buffers/cache: 1274652 1827752 Swap: 3121996 744528 2377468 root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 3102404 1652112 1450292 4756 860 49968 -/+ buffers/cache: 1601284 1501120 Swap: 3121996 744224 2377772 root@pinpoint:~# sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches && free total used free shared buffers cached Mem: 3102404 1305376 1797028 4236 124 42836 -/+ buffers/cache: 1262416 1839988 Swap: 3121996 744116 2377880 Used (used mem -buffers/cache + swap) before start: 2019180 after start : 2345508 = 326328 kbytes, 319 Mbytes / 3.16 MBytes/instance after kill : 2006532 = −12648 kbytes, -12.35 Mbytes recovered (first process) </pre></div> </div> <p>Terminator GTK3:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre>Not possible at the moment because the DBus interface still needs fixing. </pre></div> </div> <p>So that one surprised me a bit. The fact that when using the single process we are <strong>more</strong> memory efficient. Python + 100 terminals is using <90% of the GNOME-Terminal + 100 terminals.</p> <p>Some may think that this is something to do with the different version of the VTE widget, but hang on a second. In the dumb method GTK2 Terminator used <strong>more</strong> memory than GTK3. Once the DBus is fixed for GTK3 there could potentially be more savings.</p> </div> <div class="section" id="python-sucks"> <h4>“Python sucks!”<a class="headerlink" href="#python-sucks" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h4> <p>Yeah, whatever. The fact is that I’m a helluva lot more productive in Python than I ever was, am, or will be, in C. In my totally biased and uninformed opinion, I also think certain things are <em>much</em> easier to get working in Python because you can iterate faster. With the <a class="reference internal" href="advancedusage.html#debugging"><span>Debugging</span></a> option to run an interactive terminal you even have the ability to try out ideas and explore the running instance directly. Results don’t get more immediate than that!</p> </div> <div class="section" id="in-summary"> <h4>In summary<a class="headerlink" href="#in-summary" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h4> <p>It’s a bit slower on startup, it takes a bit more memory, but that’s when you use the dumb method. In normal use, where you’re likely to be using the existing process to open a new window, it is for all practical purposes as fast as the compiled GNOME-Terminal. It may even (according to the last memory section) be a little lighter memory wise, and more obliging about giving it back!</p> <p>I didn’t compare to things like xterm, because frankly we’re not aimed at the same people. Personally I’d rather have the more extensive features saving me <em>lots</em> of time over the course of the day when using it, than save a handful of seconds every few days when I restart it, or worrying about an extra 5 or 10 MBytes.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="section" id="how-do-i"> <h2>How do I...<a class="headerlink" href="#how-do-i" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2> <div class="section" id="make-terminator-work-like-quake-style-terminals"> <h3>...make Terminator work like Quake style terminals?<a class="headerlink" href="#make-terminator-work-like-quake-style-terminals" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <blockquote> <div><p>You can get close, but it isn’t a perfect recreation, as Terminator was not designed with this in mind, but improvements are always welcome!</p> <ul class="simple"> <li>Window state: Hidden</li> <li>Always on top: On</li> <li>Show on all workspaces: On</li> <li>Hide on lose focus: On</li> <li>Hide from taskbar</li> <li>Window borders: Off (use <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">Alt</span></code>+<code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">click-drag</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">Alt</span></code>+<code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">middle-click-drag</span></code> to position and size window.)</li> <li>Set the Toggle window visibility shortcut to your preference</li> </ul> <div class="admonition note"> <p class="first admonition-title">Note</p> <p class="last">It must be the first Terminator instance started, because at present only the first instance can bind to the Window toggle.</p> </div> <p>This will give you a terminal hidden at startup that appears with a keypress and disappears, either with another keypress, or losing focus. It will stay on top, and appear on whichever workspace you are on.</p> <p>Something that we don’t have is the slide in action of a true Quake style terminal. The terminal will simply flick into view, and flick out of view.</p> <div class="admonition warning"> <p class="first admonition-title">Warning</p> <p class="last">The Hide on lose focus option is problematic at this time. You will probably find it very frustrating.</p> </div> </div></blockquote> </div> </div> </div> </div> <footer> <div class="rst-footer-buttons" role="navigation" aria-label="footer navigation"> <a href="gettinginvolved.html" class="btn btn-neutral float-right" title="Getting involved" accesskey="n">Next <span class="fa fa-arrow-circle-right"></span></a> <a href="advancedusage.html" class="btn btn-neutral" title="Advanced Usage" accesskey="p"><span class="fa fa-arrow-circle-left"></span> Previous</a> </div> <hr/> <div role="contentinfo"> <p> © Copyright 2015, Stephen Boddy, licensed under the CC-BY-SA.. </p> </div> Built with <a href="http://sphinx-doc.org/">Sphinx</a> using a <a href="https://github.com/snide/sphinx_rtd_theme">theme</a> provided by <a href="https://readthedocs.org">Read the Docs</a>. </footer> </div> </div> </section> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> var DOCUMENTATION_OPTIONS = { URL_ROOT:'./', VERSION:'1.0 alpha', COLLAPSE_INDEX:false, FILE_SUFFIX:'.html', HAS_SOURCE: true }; </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="_static/jquery.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="_static/underscore.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="_static/doctools.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="_static/js/theme.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> jQuery(function () { SphinxRtdTheme.StickyNav.enable(); }); </script> </body> </html>