path: root/posts/weltschmerz.md

title: weltschmerz - A terminal emulator in Vala
date: 2019-07-12
author: Wynn Wolf Arbor

## Synopsis

weltschmerz is a small and simple terminal emulator built upon the Virtual
Terminal Emulator widget. It's written in Vala, supports clickable URLs and
hyperlinks, can reload its configuration whilst running, and has basic search
functionality.

![weltschmerz in action](img/weltschmerz.png)

As a VTE app, weltschmerz supports practically every contemporary
terminal emulator feature. It is built to be a stable and practical
terminal emulator for daily use.

## Download

- [weltschmerz-1.4.1.tar.gz](https://git.oriole.systems/weltschmerz/snapshot/weltschmerz-1.4.1.tar.gz)
	([signature](https://git.oriole.systems/weltschmerz/snapshot/weltschmerz-1.4.1.tar.gz.asc),
	 [verify?](verify-with-signify),
	 [archive](https://git.oriole.systems/weltschmerz/refs),
	 [changelog](https://git.oriole.systems/weltschmerz/tree/NEWS))
- [Git repository](https://git.oriole.systems/weltschmerz)

## Requirements

- [VTE](https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Terminal/VTE) >= 2.91 (must be built with support for Vala)
- [Vala](https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/Vala) >= 0.42
- [GTK+](https://www.gtk.org/) >= 3.24
- [gettext](https://www.gnu.org/software/gettext)

## Usage & Configuration

See [`weltschmerz(1)`](https://git.oriole.systems/weltschmerz/about/weltschmerz.1).

## Build

weltschmerz can be built with any POSIX-conformant make or with
[Meson](https://mesonbuild.com). The latter may be interesting to
distribution packagers or people already comfortable with this
particular build system.

__Note:__ if your Vala compiler executable is not named `valac`, you
need to export the environment variable `VALAC` containing the correct
name before you can build weltschmerz:

	export VALAC='valac-0.42'

### Makefile

Run the following to build and install weltschmerz to the default
location (`/usr/local`):

	make install

The Makefile honors the environment variables `PREFIX`, `DESTDIR`,
`BINDIR`, and `MANDIR`. For instance, if you want to install weltschmerz
to your home directory, call make like so:

	PREFIX=/home/user make install

### Meson

Create the build directory and configure the Meson build like so:

	meson build
	cd build
	meson configure

The build can be configured extensively; for more information, see
`meson(1)`. If you want to install weltschmerz to your home directory,
for example, pass `--prefix=/home/user` to configure.

Once the build is set up, install weltschmerz:

	meson install