Alacritty Builder (Docker + Make)

This repository provides a reproducible way to build and install Alacritty, a fast, GPU-accelerated terminal emulator, using Docker and a simple Makefile workflow.

It avoids polluting your host with Rust toolchains and build dependencies by isolating everything inside a container, then exporting the build artifacts.

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📦 Requirements

• Docker (tested on Ubuntu 24.04 host)
• GNU Make
• ncurses-bin (provides tic) installed on the host for terminfo

  sudo apt-get install ncurses-bin

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⚡ Usage

Build latest Alacritty (default branch)

make

This will:

• Build Alacritty in Docker
• Export artifacts to ./output/

Build a specific version

make VERSION=v0.13.2

Install on the host

sudo make install

This will install:

• alacritty → /usr/local/bin/alacritty
• Desktop entry → /usr/local/share/applications/Alacritty.desktop
• Icons → /usr/local/share/icons/hicolor/...
• Terminfo → via tic (for terminal capabilities)

Verify installation

make check

or

alacritty --version

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🧹 Cleanup

Remove exported build artifacts and the Docker image:

make clean

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🔧 Targets Overview

Target	Description
make	Build and export artifacts to ./output/
make install	Install Alacritty system-wide on the host
make check	Run alacritty --version on the exported binary
make clean	Remove artifacts and Docker image

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📂 Output Directory Structure

After a build, the output/ directory will contain:

output/
├── alacritty          # compiled binary
├── Alacritty.desktop  # desktop entry
├── Alacritty.png      # app icon (128x128)
├── Alacritty.svg      # scalable app icon
└── alacritty.info     # terminfo source

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📝 Notes

• By default, VERSION=latest builds from the master branch of Alacritty.
• For a specific release, pass VERSION=vX.Y.Z (check Alacritty releases).
• Building may take a while on first run, since Rust toolchains and dependencies must be compiled.

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📜 License

This repo just provides build tooling.
Alacritty itself is licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.