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WebTUI – A CSS Library That Brings the Beauty of Terminal UIs to the Browser

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Re: WebTUI – A CSS Library That Brings the Beauty of Terminal UIs to the Browser

#81

Post by __float »

dullcrisp wrote: post #47
rollcat wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've tried many IDEs but I'll always come back to vim. Vim and Emacs both have GUIs. As an Emacs user, I subjectively find the GUI superior - I can e.g. rebind Cmd-S to "save", and that's a reason enough. > It's a language you learn [...] You mean the serial lines and ANSI escape codes and termcap? I would say it's more like pidgin with a dozen obscure dialects, and a body language on top. Try writing a portable TU…

Hmm I just use :w to save in my graphical editors too. It’s easier to type.

No, it's objectively more difficult to type [on a qwerty keyboard].

cmd-s is a single keypress and can be done with a single hand.

shift-; w cr is two more and involves a back and forth over the entire keyboard.

Re: WebTUI – A CSS Library That Brings the Beauty of Terminal UIs to the Browser

#82

Post by rollcat »

tomxor wrote: post #74
freddie_mercury wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it is still the best, what's the superior terminal equivalent for Photoshop, Premiere, Audacity, and Figma? Not everyone's work life revolves around text just because yours does.

> Not everyone's work life revolves around GUIs just because yours does. FTFY They both have their place, pros and cons, that fit different purposes differently. The mistake is in trying to assign superlatives. Two things can be true at the same time, TUIs are superior to GUIs, and GUIs are superior to TUIs, but in different contexts.

> Two things can be true at the same time, TUIs are superior to GUIs, and GUIs are superior to TUIs.

TUIs are GUIs - in a trench coat. A TUI program must still process input events, draw widgets, manage state & focus, etc - all the things a GUI must do. What OTOH it can't do, is even the most basic stuff, like system clipboard or displaying pictures. You have to use side channels to get that, and once you do, you throw away the TUI's one single advantage - SSH.

Re: WebTUI – A CSS Library That Brings the Beauty of Terminal UIs to the Browser

#83

Post by graypegg »

sgt wrote: post #75
rollcat wrote: post #22

I don't understand the obsession with 1980s terminals. They're even less powerful than the contemporary 8-bit home computers. It's perfectly OK to be a retro enthusiast, it's another thing to claim that this is the peak tech to power our modern CLIs, or a solid foundation for portable UIs. From the docs: Stop thinking in standard CSS units like px, em, rem, % Start thinking in Character Cells for spacing, sizing, and…

Occasionally when you see someone using a point of sale terminal that is terminal based, the operator usually flies through the interface like it's nothing. So there's something to be said about those types of interfaces - it may look simple and be text based, but it's the most user friendly for the qualified operator to get things done.

Another example of this sort of interface is office phones. When someone knows their phone well, they can speed through a hold, page to another desk, then transer to them, without even looking at the keypad.

I have a feeling that sort of "trainable speed" is a feature of interfaces that treat the thing they manage like a physicial "thing" you're rolling thru a process. (instead of a feature of textmode interfaces) Rather than having to get to a menu for outside lines in some abstract window, there's just actual physicial buttons to mash. You get this feeling that you're juggling a call between your fingers because every press you do is doing a "thing", not just opening a menu. There's real physicality to that process that my monkey brain can learn no problem.

I don't have any experience operating a terminal based PoS, but from what I know, they tend to also have the same sort of "juggling" actions, like SALE, DISCOUNT, VOID etc. I have to imagine using them feels like juggling the current item you're looking at thru a few different buttons.

Re: WebTUI – A CSS Library That Brings the Beauty of Terminal UIs to the Browser

#84

Post by rollcat »

pjmlp wrote: post #77
sgt wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Occasionally when you see someone using a point of sale terminal that is terminal based, the operator usually flies through the interface like it's nothing. So there's something to be said about those types of interfaces - it may look simple and be text based, but it's the most user friendly for the qualified operator to get things done.

I see the same on any graphical one on the supermarkets and restaurants. Maybe it is a matter to actually design for the customers use case.

Exactly. POS terminals are optimised for throughput. Otherwise it's literally less sales, your bottom line.

You can build a perfectly snappy, keyboard-driven GUI application; a terminal emulator is (ironically) the perfect example.

Re: WebTUI – A CSS Library That Brings the Beauty of Terminal UIs to the Browser

#85

Post by rollcat »

graypegg wrote: post #83
sgt wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Occasionally when you see someone using a point of sale terminal that is terminal based, the operator usually flies through the interface like it's nothing. So there's something to be said about those types of interfaces - it may look simple and be text based, but it's the most user friendly for the qualified operator to get things done.

Another example of this sort of interface is office phones. When someone knows their phone well, they can speed through a hold, page to another desk, then transer to them, without even looking at the keypad. I have a feeling that sort of "trainable speed" is a feature of interfaces that treat the thing they manage like a physicial "thing" you're rolling thru a process. (instead of a feature of textmode interfaces) Ra…

See my sibling comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43673486

Re: WebTUI – A CSS Library That Brings the Beauty of Terminal UIs to the Browser

#86

Post by jiehong »

That's nice!

## Shameless plug

I explored a bit what older tech such as IBM's TN5250 terminals could bring to the Web [0] 2 years ago. In particular for data input scenarios.

It's designed for Desktops, not mobile.

[0]: https://jiehong.gitlab.io/web_tn5250

Re: WebTUI – A CSS Library That Brings the Beauty of Terminal UIs to the Browser

#87

Post by pjmlp »

__float wrote: post #80
pjmlp wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see the same on any graphical one on the supermarkets and restaurants. Maybe it is a matter to actually design for the customers use case.

Modern GUI apps tend not to design for the keyboard-wielding power user. TUIs can have just as many quirks and bugs, but on the whole they tend to be a little simpler, and the author usually is an end-user :-)

Someone is responsible for developing them.

Re: WebTUI – A CSS Library That Brings the Beauty of Terminal UIs to the Browser

#88

Post by pjmlp »

geocar wrote: post #79
pjmlp wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes there is, it is called a REPL, Xerox PARC has plenty of examples across all their workstation variants, followed by Oberon, and some of that work even inspired Plan 9 and Inferno UI and related developers editor, ACME.

I don't understand exactly what you are trying to say. I think a REPL is the real-eval-print-loop used by lisp systems to talk to a terminal, or something that looks/works like that (but maybe doesn't use lisp). These days I think lots of things have REPLs. Even Python. The only ones to survive 40 years though, have been serial ones, and I don't think that's an accident. That command box/area that the user uses and r…

That is a a barebones REPL from early 1960's, not the experience I was mentioning.

Imagine Emacs mixed with Jupiter netbooks, for the whole OS stack.

Re: WebTUI – A CSS Library That Brings the Beauty of Terminal UIs to the Browser

#90

Post by [deleted] »

sgt wrote: post #75
rollcat wrote: post #22

I don't understand the obsession with 1980s terminals. They're even less powerful than the contemporary 8-bit home computers. It's perfectly OK to be a retro enthusiast, it's another thing to claim that this is the peak tech to power our modern CLIs, or a solid foundation for portable UIs. From the docs: Stop thinking in standard CSS units like px, em, rem, % Start thinking in Character Cells for spacing, sizing, and…

Occasionally when you see someone using a point of sale terminal that is terminal based, the operator usually flies through the interface like it's nothing. So there's something to be said about those types of interfaces - it may look simple and be text based, but it's the most user friendly for the qualified operator to get things done.

[deleted]
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