Why TUIs are back • Hacker News Board

Re: Why TUIs are back

#291

Post by jorvi » Mon, May 04, 2026, 1:07 AM UTC

Suro wrote: post #40

bartread wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> look like l33t h4xx0rs even though we're just pressing continue 15 times I feel seen. I also think there’s a certain element of reacting against absolutely everything becoming a bloated electron app. I have no doubt - if it hasn’t already happened - that some apps will unironically embrace the most ridiculous option by shipping as electron apps that implement a TUI layer as their front-end.

Considering the insane memory consumption of claude code running in my terminal, electron was never really the problem, bad software was the culprit all along.

Yup. VSCode is really fast and memory-frugal for an Electron application of that complexity.

Likewise, Gnome has proven that you can write entire UIs in Javascript and have them be quite performant.

Electron (well, Node is a big sub-culprit) and Javascript in general just make it really easy to create a slow, bloated application.

Re: Why TUIs are back

#292

Post by dvhh » Mon, May 04, 2026, 1:29 AM UTC

manyatoms wrote: post #73

TUIs are back because the web got too bloated.

And desktop app are tuning into bloated website

Re: Why TUIs are back

#293

Post by mgaunard » Mon, May 04, 2026, 1:54 AM UTC

Ferret7446 wrote: post #192

mgaunard wrote: post #118

Power users have always preferred the command-line, since expressing what you want to do as a programming language is of course much more powerful and productive than clicking menus. To avoid context-switching from the command-line, many essential UIs were made text-only. Another route would have been to integrate the command-line within graphical applications, but few did it -- the main example that comes to mind is…

TUIs are much closer to GUIs than CLIs. As a CLI enjoyer, I was resigned to the small win that at least many people distinguish TUI and CLI now but then I saw your comment. There are quite a few GUIs that can be navigated with keyboard, e.g. menu bars can usually be activated with alt or win and single key presses

As I said, the advantage of the TUI is that they avoid context-switching.

Re: Why TUIs are back

#294

Post by keyle » Mon, May 04, 2026, 1:54 AM UTC

alcidesfonseca wrote: post #228

ifh-hn wrote: post #174

I'm pretty sure dismissing flutter is ignoring reality. It, and more so dart, are not popular on HN, but it definitely is a popular and still in development truly cross platform framework.

What popular desktop application is written in flutter? Asking honestly, because none of the ones I use is.

A ton of industry applications are written in flutter. Point of sale systems, automotive interfaces, bespoke industry applications within offices, etc.

The install base would be huge, and it's a solid cross-platform option.

Re: Why TUIs are back

#295

Post by keyle » Mon, May 04, 2026, 1:55 AM UTC

einpoklum wrote: post #190

ifh-hn wrote: post #174

I'm pretty sure dismissing flutter is ignoring reality. It, and more so dart, are not popular on HN, but it definitely is a popular and still in development truly cross platform framework.

Where would one go to familiarize one's self with Flutter and with dart?

If you've done some SwiftUI or Flex or WPF or similar, Flutter is pretty easy to pick up.

Dart is really easy to pick up, it's a beautiful language imho.

Re: Why TUIs are back

#296

Post by faangguyindia » Mon, May 04, 2026, 1:58 AM UTC

alcidesfonseca wrote: post #228

ifh-hn wrote: post #174

I'm pretty sure dismissing flutter is ignoring reality. It, and more so dart, are not popular on HN, but it definitely is a popular and still in development truly cross platform framework.

What popular desktop application is written in flutter? Asking honestly, because none of the ones I use is.

localsend

Re: Why TUIs are back

#297

Post by CyberBlaed » Mon, May 04, 2026, 2:11 AM UTC

I’d love it for my Mac if my wall paper can be a TUI app of my choice.

Interact as needed, matrix screen saver when idle to prevent burn in.

I don’t see terminal apps as heavy at all…

How to make them a wallpaper thats interactive I wonder…?

Funny if I just search it… PlashApp by Sinde, Set to Termix docker and BOOM :)

Re: Why TUIs are back

#298

Post by JamesStuff » Mon, May 04, 2026, 2:18 AM UTC

There is only so much rounding of borders you can do in the terminal! On a 16” MacBook, you can’t have Activity Monitor take up less than about 2/5 of the width of the screen! There is so much padding around every single element.

I don’t need pretty buttons, I need usability and readability. Without having a 50” display!

Re: Why TUIs are back

#299

Post by chvid » Mon, May 04, 2026, 2:27 AM UTC

A React app that renders to text running inside a terminal implemented using electron.

Re: Why TUIs are back

#300

Post by IBCNU » Mon, May 04, 2026, 2:34 AM UTC

lucasoshiro wrote: post #104

mr_mitm wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, remapping escape to caps lock can lead to serious friction if you have to work with different laptops a lot, like I do. The muscle memory gets in the way a lot.

I always remap Caps Lock to Ctrl. I understand that Caps Lock needed to be next to Shift in typewriters, but in computers it seems like it is wasting a key in the home row for only be used sometimes for screaming (which can be done by holding shift...)

fellow Caps Lock to Ctrl remapper (and neovim) here...