A Linux power user discovered their favorite terminal emulator, kitty, was consuming 50G of swap space, causing system slowdowns. This prompted a comprehensive test comparing memory usage across multiple terminals including xterm, alacritty, gnome-terminal, konsole, and st. The user had been using terminals extensively since 1996, switching through various options before settling on kitty for its image rendering capabilities.

Benchmark results revealed dramatic differences: st consumed less than one-tenth of kitty's memory, making it the most efficient option. Surprisingly, gnome-terminal performed better than expected, while konsole also showed promising results. The testing was conducted across both X11 and Wayland environments, with minimal difference between them. Memory consumption varied from under 10,000 KB to over 140,000 KB depending on the terminal.

The user discovered konsole supports pixel-perfect image rendering with timg, eliminating the need to stick with kitty for that feature. With st lacking scrollback functionality, they're now considering lxterminal for X11 and foot for Wayland as alternatives that balance memory efficiency with needed features. The benchmark demonstrates how terminal choice can significantly impact system performance, especially for users running multiple terminal instances.