Why do software engineers care so much about TUI? I really don't get it. I love a good command line program. But TUI just doesn't appeal to me.
replies(9):
Turbo Vision, curses and dialog were cool back in the 1990's.
Having started with computers in 1986, I really don't get the TUI fetisch, not even remote access is an issue, given X Windows, VNC, RDP, Citrix,... exist for decades.
Yeah but those are all awful. I mean, okay, they work almost okay with a wired network connection and on the same network.
But as soon as you hit the WAN and you throw wifi in there it's painful. Having noticeable latency and graphical artifacts does, in my opinion, hurt productivity. For those pieces of software where completing tasks as fast and accurately as possible is the most important goal, TUIs are great. Especially when you have comprehensive keyboard shortcuts. If you've ever seen an office worker rip through a TUI underwriting a loan, you'll know what I mean.