Textual Web: TUIs for the Web

Post by anthk » Thu, Sep 07, 2023, 7:25 PM UTC

ploum wrote: post #18

rollcat wrote: post #2

TUI is just a thinly disguised GUI. I mean it's pretty cool what they've done, but if it's effectively just an alternative graphical frontend (that happens to run in a terminal emulator), well I guess someone out there has a use case where they need to run this over an SSH session? Personally I find CLI ( not TUI) and/or client libraries a much more attractive proposition; otherwise a native application, that uses pr…

Agree, I’m also a fan of CLI. That’s why I developed a CLI brower ( https://sr.ht/~lioploum/offpunk/ ). When reading the title, I clicked hoping to see some alternatives or innovative solution to browse the web from a terminal. Turns out it’s the opposite : putting a terminal in a web browser.

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Sep 07, 2023, 7:37 PM UTC

rollcat wrote: post #2

TUI is just a thinly disguised GUI. I mean it's pretty cool what they've done, but if it's effectively just an alternative graphical frontend (that happens to run in a terminal emulator), well I guess someone out there has a use case where they need to run this over an SSH session? Personally I find CLI ( not TUI) and/or client libraries a much more attractive proposition; otherwise a native application, that uses pr…

Post by cxr » Thu, Sep 07, 2023, 7:46 PM UTC

rollcat wrote: post #22

vidarh wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm probably a bit more positive to TUI type applications than you (and don't care about theme matching, docks, or notifications), given e.g. my editor runs purely in a terminal (and I'm writing a new terminal...) but I think we sort-of agree when you say it's just a thinly disguised GUI. While I think it's impressive how good they've made it look, for me the point of a TUI is for it to be simple and pared down. It's…

> I want something keyboard driven and command focused rather than UI element focused. I think we are in more agreement than you might suspect. Command-driven operation is how I tell a good UI from a poor UI. Good interfaces are intuitive for beginners and provide a smooth learning curve to mastery. Good way to get there is for the interface to remain simple and consistent on the surface, but unravel more specialized…

Post by gobdovan » Thu, Sep 07, 2023, 8:16 PM UTC

eterps wrote: post #15

I prefer TUIs over GUIs primarily because TUIs are often tailored for advanced users — essentially, for professionals. In contrast, the majority of GUIs prioritize user-friendly experiences for the general consumer. When a 'TUI' begins to incorporate features like mouse-clickable buttons, drop-down menus, scrollbars, windowed interfaces (as opposed to panes & separate screens), it gradually shifts away from its core…

Post by cout » Thu, Sep 07, 2023, 8:25 PM UTC

masfuerte wrote: post #50

Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that most TUIs have but most GUIs (web or native app) don't is fast keyboard navigation. There are obviously exceptions to both cases, but as a general rule this seems to hold true. Watching people who are very familiar with the TUI that they're using do complex business transactions is a sight to behold. In particular, a seasoned user will likely type a series of commands that will get buffered until the T…

Type-ahead works fine with single-threaded GUIs. It was rock solid in Windows 3.1. It worked in nearly all win32 apps because hardly anyone used threads other than for background tasks. But it's broken in most modern UI toolkits and on the web.