Using the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) for rendering, the free and open source terminal emulator Alacritty implements some optimizations that are not present in many other Linux terminal emulators. Alacritty focuses on two goals: performance and simplicity. It should be faster than any other terminal emulator on the market due to the performance target. Due to emphasis on simplicity, does not support Linux features such as tabs or divisions (which can easily be provided by other terminal multiplexers such as tmux). Some Linux operating systems come with Alacritty binaries already installed; otherwise, use the instructions below for your specific distribution to do so. We have mentioned the steps below to Install Alacritty Terminal on Ubuntu
Steps to install Alacritty Terminal on Ubuntu
Update Ubuntu 22.04
Open your standard terminal, you can use Ctrl+Alt+T key combination. Before going ahead and adding the PPA, run the system update with the specified command.
Add Alacritty PPA repository
Well, those who don’t want to add a third party PPA repository in their Ubuntu 22.04 can use the second method described in this tutorial, i.e. use the source code. However, users looking for an easy way can use the PPA.
Install Alacritty Terminal on Ubuntu 22.04
After adding the PPA repository, we can install Alacritty terminal on Ubuntu 22.04 using system APT package manager like any other common open source software.
Install Developer Tools
There may be some users who don’t want to add an additional PPA repository on their Ubuntu system, although it is now safe to do so. However, if you don’t want an additional repository, compile the source code. To do this, first install the developer tools on your Ubuntu 22.04. Here is the command to do this.
Configure Rust on Ubuntu 22.04
As Alacritty is written in the Rust programming language, our system also requires Rust to run this terminal emulator application. To install it, just run the given command.
Download Alacritty source code
Now, we need to copy the source from Alacritty’s GitHub repository, for that we can use the Git command line tool.
Start the build process
After cloning the source code change to your directory, here is the command to do this:
Create a desktop shortcut
Once the Alacritty source installation process is complete, the compiled binary is saved in a directory, here is the path to it: /target/release/alacritty, which is located in the git directory of your Alacritty clone.
Run Alacritty Terminal
After following any of the above methods, you will have the Alacritty terminal installed on your Ubuntu 22.04. To run it, click the Activities link on the Ubuntu taskbar and look for the terminal. Soon you will see the icon, click on it to run it.
for customization
To customize the appearance of the Terminal, we can create Alacritty YML Configuration. You can get the pattern here on Github.
Pre-built terminal themes
You can also use the pre-built themes. For that you can use NPM:
Uninstall Alacritty from Ubuntu 22.04
Well, if you don’t like this Terminal app then remove Alacritty completely from your Ubuntu 22.04 system by following given commands:
Final Words
So here we conclude our article on How to Install Alacritty Terminal on Ubuntu. A cross-platform terminal emulator with GPU acceleration is called Alacritty. Rust is a programming language that was used to create a terminal emulator for OpenGL. Thanks to its high-performance OpenGL renderer and parser, Alacritty is the lightest and fastest Terminal emulator out there. As the Alacritty Terminal emulator was created with simplicity and efficiency in mind, it lacks many fancy features features like tabs and divisions that you find in other Terminal emulators, like Terminology.
