[aklug] Re: console applications resource

On 11/23/2010 11:30 AM, Christopher Howard wrote:
>
>>
>> I don't think the goal of the extended ascii setup was to fake graphics... Especially
>> when they are still nothing more than character tiles... the same as all alphanumerics.
>>
>> What I'm taking away from your assertation is that before GUIs were widely available us
>> purists.. even though we didn't know we were at the time.. were faking.. even though we
>> didn't know it at the time.. graphics..
>>
>> HOLY CRAP.. WE WERE AWESOME..
>>
>> Anybody remember when gpm came out for Linux? I sure do.
>>
>> Christian.. to be fare I did fake graphical programs by modifying the font on the video
>> card and using a limited number of tiles to render unimaginably cool and uber low
>> resolution primative shapes, lines, etc.. If you're up for a challenge I'd like you to do
>> the same and let me know how practical it was when I had direct access to INT13 any time I
>> wanted but refused to use it for the sake of hackery.
>>
>> - Shane
>
> I'm not sure how the point you are making relates to the original discussion, but anyway: I have no interest in or time to devote to hacking system fonts. There is only one ascii-graphics project I'd like to tackle: I mean to someday get around to updating the bb-demo source code for gcc 4, and to build some fresh binaries for public distribution. I used to be able to install bb-demo through apt-get back in my Debian days, and I've missed being able to show that off since I switched to Gentoo.
>

My point is that attempting to do anything graphical outside of a 1 pixel per pixel
environment is hardly graphical or productive. In fact it doesn't seem like anybody here
is really striving to have their console applications more like X11 programs. Grouping
data on screen is useful, not graphical. It becomes a lot less useful without some sort
of boundary between things you read on screen. Your analysis of honest to dog console
applications almost renders 'less' as a non-puritan program that shall not be used due to
off-screen buffering :).

No big deal... I just don't really correlate simple text menus, pagers, and vim..
something I use 70+% of my computer time in the same category as bb-demo.. something I use
for minutes every 10 years or so.

- Shane
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Received on Tue Nov 23 11:50:03 2010