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414 points henry_flower | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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doublerabbit ◴[] No.43108974[source]
Cool. Can we enter that time portal and live in that alternate reality?
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yjftsjthsd-h ◴[] No.43110517[source]
I mean... Sure? Go buy an actual VT* unit ( maybe https://www.ebay.com/itm/176698465415?_skw=vt+terminal&itmme... ?), get the necessary adaptors to plug into a computer, and run simh on it running your choice of *nix. I recommend https://jstn.tumblr.com/post/8692501831 as a reference. Once you have it working, shove the host machine behind a desk or otherwise out of sight, and you can live like it's 1980.
replies(2): >>43111839 #>>43115142 #
an-unknown ◴[] No.43115142[source]
The only problem with real VTs is you have to be careful not to get one where the CRT has severe burn-in, like in the ebay listing. Sure, some VTs (like the VT240 or VT525) are a separate main box + CRT, but then you're missing the "VT aesthetics". The VT525 is probably the easiest one to get which also uses (old) standard interfaces like VGA for the monitor and PS/2 for the keyboard, so you don't need an original keyboard / CRT. At least for me, severe burn-in, insane prices, and general decay of some of the devices offered on ebay are the reason why I don't have a real VT (yet).

The alternative is to use a decent VT emulator attached to roughly any monitor. By "decent" I certainly don't mean projects like cool-retro-term, but rather something like this, which I started to develop some time ago and which I'm using as my main terminal emulator now: https://github.com/unknown-technologies/vt240

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1. kragen ◴[] No.43126145{3}[source]
You can also just use the terminal despite the burn-in.