Written in Python and Objective C, Kitty is a cross-platform and feature-rich GPU based terminal emulator developed under the GPL 3.0 license. It supports graphics, images, Unicode, true-color, mouse protocol, hyperlinks, multiple copy/paste buffers, etc. It's a lightweight emulator that can be controlled from scripts, shell prompt, and over SSH. Like tilix and terminology, kitty is a feature-rich terminal emulator.
This guide shows how to install Kitty on Ubuntu 20.04 and see the basic usage of it.
Installation of Kitty
You can install the kitty form source as well as form the official repository of Ubuntu. You may follow any of the methods to install.
Method 1: From Ubuntu repository
First, open a terminal and update your system.
$ sudo apt update
Use apt to install kitty,
$ sudo apt install kitty -y
Just type 'kitty' to open it.
$ kitty
Method 2: From prebuilt binaries
If you are on a Mac or Linux, simply install Kitty's prebuilt binaries. Use the following curl command:
$ curl -L https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/installer.sh | sh /dev/stdin
This installs the binary in ~/.local/kitty.app/bin/ directory. You can just launch it by typing,
$ ~/.local/kitty.app/bin/kitty
You can start kitty by searching in apps.
Method 3: Install Kitty from source
Another handy way that you can install Kitty is to compile it from the source. However, some dependencies are required, and before you proceed, ensure that you have the following:
- python 3.5 and later versions
- harfbuzz 1.5.0 and later versions
- zlib
- libpng
- liblcms2
- gcc
The source code is hosted on Github, so clone the Git repository as shown:
$ git clone https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty
This takes about 5 minutes and some patience will do. Once downloaded, navigate to the cloned directory and execute the commands below.
$ cd kitty
Then invoke.
$ make
Once installed, you can launch it by invoking the command:
$./kitty/launcher/kitty
How to Use Kitty
Kitty can run multiple programs in multiple windows. You can do it by pressing ctrl+shift+enter keys.
To make the program advanced, kitty has a framework known as kittens. You can display images by the use of it. For example,
$ kitty +kitten icat image.jpeg
Some useful shortcut keys
| Scroll page up | ctrl+shift+page_up |
| Scroll page down | ctrl+shift+page_down |
| New tab | ctrl+shift+t |
| New window | ctrl+shift+enter |
| New OS window | ctrl+shift+n |
You can refer more from the kitty official page.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, we learned how to install Kitty on Linux and its basic usage as a terminal emulator. Please try and let us know your experience with Kitty terminal.
