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

(webtui.ironclad.sh)

320 points IroncladDev | 2 comments | 12 Apr 25 22:02 UTC | HN request time: 1.048s | source

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rollcat ◴[13 Apr 25 06:39 UTC] No.43670593[source]▶

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 positioning

A VT102 already has a character grid, but it needs a serial protocol to allow applications on the mainframe to talk to it. You can loop around this and use the raw mode to address individual cells.

The web browser has an insanely powerful typographic and layout engine. Now we're looping back into character cells. Something went wrong here, at least once.

That said, I like the aesthetic and the default color palette. It's quirky, but it has its places.

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sgt ◴[13 Apr 25 14:29 UTC] No.43673068[source]▶

>>43670593 #

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.

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1. graypegg ◴[13 Apr 25 15:22 UTC] No.43673437[source]▶

>>43673068 #

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.