Rxvt-unicode

rxvt-unicode, also known simply as urxvt, is a fast and lightweight terminal emulator with xft and unicode support.

Emerge
Install :

Daemon
It is possible to operate urxvt as a daemon, which will lead to lower resource usage and quicker startup for new terminals. It is a good idea to start the daemon at the beginning of the X session.

The following can be used to start the daemon and fork it into the background.

After this, new clients can be opened on the single daemon process, rather than spawning new processes for each terminal. To do this, simply run `urxvtc' in place of the usual `urxvt' command.

Configuration
Configuration for urxvt is done mainly through the X resources system, though command line equivalents are also available in most cases. A full list of these options can be found in the urxvt manpage. Some common configuration options are listed below.

.xinitrc
If you are using, it is possible will not be read. To fix this, add the following to

Font
Rxvt-unicode's font can be configured using either XLFD notation or, provided the package was compiled with the xft USE flag, Xft fonts.

Rendering settings can be tweaked for Xft fonts as well. Note that this is not specific to urxvt.

Scrollbar
The look of the scrollbar can changed, or the scrollbar can be removed entirely.

Printing
By default, rxvt-unicode will print out a screen dump, via lpr, when is pressed. Using + or - will include the terminal's scroll back in the printout as well. This behavior can be changed, or disabled entirely, based on personal preference and need.

Copy/Paste and URL handling
A perl module can be used to get copy/paste and URL handling capabilities. In order to use Perl modules in urxvt, the package must have been compiled with the "perl" USE flag. Additionally, you will need either or  for copy/paste capabilities. You can get a set of Perl scripts in the package. You can also grab the sources of a perl modules from muennich's github or an ebuild for example. It is possible to get other Perl modules elsewhere on the internet.

Here is an example of a. The following lines could also be added to, though is preferred.

Menu icon
This adds menu entry and menu icon for urxvt. If urxvt doesn't have a .desktop file, create one.

Application icon
For setting application icon urxvt has to be compiled with pixbuf USE flag.

Using rxvt-unicode with Powerline fonts
Unfortunately current default rxvt-unicode configuration in gentoo uses compromise patches, which break support for Powerline characters. Overview of the problem: some fonts provide incorrect values for character width, which breaks their appearance in urxvt in various ways. The Powerline symbols are extra unicode characters, which can be add to a font by "patching" it, or they can be added to the system without patching, using fontconfig settings. These fonts often contain wrong width set for the Powerline characters. Some other terminals workaround that, but not urxvt. Gentoo also has a use flag alt-font-width set by default, which alters font width calculation in a fay incompatible with Powerline characters. As per talk in the urxvt mailing list: http://lists.schmorp.de/pipermail/rxvt-unicode/2016q1/002204.html it should be clear, that to get Powerline symbols to work in urxvt on gentoo you need to disable alt-font-width and enable vanila (not globaly!) USE flags. Then install the Powerline symbols any way you prefer on your system, however be sure not to get an old broken font - in this case it will not be working with urxvt.