aterms

Aterms is a plural term that most commonly denotes the terminal emulator known as aterm, used in the X Window System, particularly with the AfterStep window manager and its related environments. Aterm is a lightweight, VT100-compatible terminal emulator designed for speed and small resource usage. It emphasizes simplicity and configurability, offering features such as a configurable font and color schemes, support for transparent backgrounds, and basic scrollback.

Aterm originated within the AfterStep ecosystem in the 1990s and has been distributed in various Unix-like systems. It is typically packaged under the name aterm (lowercase) or Aterm in some distributions and is launched as a standard terminal window within a desktop environment or window manager. Configuration is achieved through command line options and X resources, allowing users to set fonts, colors, scrollbar behavior, and other display options.

In addition to its core functionality, aterm is designed to integrate with the window manager's keyboard shortcuts and style systems, making it possible to customize its appearance and behavior to match the surrounding desktop. While most widely associated with AfterStep, similar lightweight terminals in the same lineage or with compatible features may be found in other minimalist environments.

Because Aterms can appear in different contexts outside computing, this article focuses on the terminal emulator usage. For alternative meanings, readers should consult context-specific glossaries or documentation related to the relevant field. See also: AfterStep, aterm, VT100-compatible terminals.