> But it is weird that we stick with these being emulators for stuff most people here would never have touched in their life because they are not at retirement age yet.
It's a standard that works, keeps a massive trove of software from being obsolete, and gives you backwards compatibility for free.
Case in point, I recently installed Gentoo on my desktop from a VT320 terminal given to me by a friend. After a simple config line to tell the init system to put a shell on my serial port with the right options, I was working with modern Linux tools in 2025 on hardware from 1987.
It's a testament to the value of maintaining standards and emulation that this terminal can be saved from e-waste. Everything mostly "just worked" once I got the TERM/environment set up right. Oddly seems like you need to set options to vt300, not vt320, for the best compatibility.
It's a joy to use. The keyboard feels very nice to type on, very good for rubber dome. The amber light is easy on the eyes. I find working on the terminal makes me less prone to distractions, and it's also prompted me to get back into learning vim better. Any cases where I had trouble with control codes etc. were a good opportunity to learn more about the ecosystem - helps that that was my mindset going into installing Gentoo in the first place.
It's a standard that works, keeps a massive trove of software from being obsolete, and gives you backwards compatibility for free.
Case in point, I recently installed Gentoo on my desktop from a VT320 terminal given to me by a friend. After a simple config line to tell the init system to put a shell on my serial port with the right options, I was working with modern Linux tools in 2025 on hardware from 1987.
https://jimm.horse/img/vt320.jpg
It's a testament to the value of maintaining standards and emulation that this terminal can be saved from e-waste. Everything mostly "just worked" once I got the TERM/environment set up right. Oddly seems like you need to set options to vt300, not vt320, for the best compatibility.
It's a joy to use. The keyboard feels very nice to type on, very good for rubber dome. The amber light is easy on the eyes. I find working on the terminal makes me less prone to distractions, and it's also prompted me to get back into learning vim better. Any cases where I had trouble with control codes etc. were a good opportunity to learn more about the ecosystem - helps that that was my mindset going into installing Gentoo in the first place.