I don't think its a "l33t" thing its just cultural. A fair number of engineers grew up with old computers that looked like this: https://i.imgur.com/WERwVsS.jpg

I don't think its a "l33t" thing its just cultural. A fair number of engineers grew up with old computers that looked like this: https://i.imgur.com/WERwVsS.jpg https://i.imgur.com/WERwVsS.jpg Personally I learned to code on an old cathode ray tube monitor with green text, hooked up to a Tandy 1000. The CRT made a lot of heat and emitted a faint electronic tonal noise when it was running. I think the use of green color in terminals today is kind of a throwback thing to those ancient devices. Even though I wouldn't really want to use an old CRT today I still remember the CRT I grew up using fondly as a much more "live" feeling device compared to modern electronics that are much colder, silent, and sterile bright. When I see a green text terminal it instantly feels familiar and comfortable, in the same way.