We are going to install Rxvt unicode (urxvt) from Slackbuilds.org, fix some things, and make it look nice!
If you want, you can edit the Slackbuild file (rxvt-unicode.Slackbuild) and disable the compilation of the embedded Perl interpreter. However, the Perl interpreter provides some interesting extensions, for example, tabs. Admittedly, the Perl interpreter has a bug (will get to that below), but it is not a serious bug and it does not prevent you from using urxvt. Therefore, I use the tabs extension even though the bug is there.
The bug happens in the following way: some keystrokes, such as, accents in characters (e.g., รก) are not captured by urxvt if you have the tabs extensions enabled and the mouse is outside the window region. If this happens, just move the mouse inside the window region, and the keystrokes start working again. Quite funny, isn't it? This is the funniest bug I have come across.
As far as I understand, the bug occurs in the file "command.c" of the urxvt source. This file implements, among other things, a procedure for translating keystrokes before sending them to the extensions (i.e., the Perl interpreter). However, if the mouse is outside the window region, this translation does not occur and the keystrokes are sent raw to the extensions.
So, install urxvt from Slackbuilds.org with or without the Perl interpreter. You might also need to install libAfterImage if it is not already installed. This library is also available at Slackbuilds.org.
Let's fix some keybindings, such as, "CTRL-L" for clearing the screen. See Rxvt unicode Ctrl-L clear screen fix on how to do this.
Now it is time to make the terminal look nice. Install the font "ttf-bitstream-vera" from Slackbuilds.org. Add the following lines to the .Xdefaults file:
URxvt*background:Black
URxvt*boldFont:-*-bitstream vera sans mono-bold-r-normal-*-*-80-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1
URxvt*font:-*-bitstream vera sans mono-medium-r-normal-*-*-80-*-*-*-*-iso8859-1
URxvt*foreground:White
URxvt*iso14755:false
URxvt*loginShell:true
URxvt*saveLines:32767
URxvt*scrollBar:false
URxvt*scrollBar_right:true
URxvt*shading:40
URxvt*transparent:true
URxvt*transpscrollbar:true
The foreground and shading might need tuning according to the background image you have.
The iso14755 option disables the insert mode for characters defined in this
standard (I believe). This is a pain if you're an emacs user because it binds
CTRL and SHIFT keys, which are essential to emacs, to the insert mode, and you
end up inserting accidentally strange characters in your documents all the
time. I have never found an advantage to this mode, so I disable it.
Other nice fonts are the "google-droid-fonts" or "dina" from Slackbuilds.org. You can install these instead and, for example, include the following lines in the previous configuration:
URxvt*boldFont:xft:Droid Sans Mono-11
URxvt*font:xft:Droid Sans Mono-11
Finally, the key binding M-F11 (Alt F11) makes the terminal fullscreen, although this is not specific to urxvt, but most likely a key binding of your window manager.
Tags: slackware