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Let's take this moment to acknowledge PuTTY, which has been serving our SSH client needs in the former barren-*nix-utility wasteland of Windows since 1999. Tha

Let's take this moment to acknowledge PuTTY, which has been serving our SSH client needs in the former barren-*nix-utility wasteland of Windows since 1999. Thanks, Simon Tatham & the maintainers of PuTTY.

ocdtrekkie 8y ago
RIP my need for PuTTY going forward though, really. I guess I probably still need PuTTY for console cable maybe? But yes, hat tip to one incredibly handy piece of software.
- jkaplowitz 8y ago
  It's still the only SSH client I know that can change most of its settings during an existing session, especially in a cross-platform way (it is available for Linux). Good software indeed.
  - benjohnson 8y ago
    Forgive me for a dumb question, but I'm trying to be helpful. Are you talking about tunnels and port forwards? OpenSSH can do that - you type in an escape sequence and you can work your magic on the fly.
    - soccerdave 8y ago
      Just wanted to thank you for this answer. I never knew about OpenSSH escape sequences and I've used ssh for years. https://pleiades.ucsc.edu/hyades/SSH_Escape_Sequences https://pleiades.ucsc.edu/hyades/SSH_Escape_Sequences
    - jkaplowitz 8y ago
      No, I'm talking about a lot more settings than that including things about terminal emulation and keyboards. Next time you use PuTTY, try opening up the settings window for an existing session and see how many can be changed without having to restart afresh. Some of these could be changed in various more disjointed ways in Linux or Windows, but it's nicely unified and cross-platform in PuTTY. I'll admit I rarely leverage this flexibility, but it's cool enough that it seemed worth noting in this sub-thread about singing PuTTY's well-deserved praises.
- snarfy 8y ago
  PuTTY is a real window, not that /subystem:console garbage that you can barely cut&paste from. Granted the console has gotten better in Windows 10, but still not nearly as good as a real window like PuTTY gives you. I'll probably keep using PuTTY for this reason.
  - zaat 8y ago
    Not sure what you are missing in the Windows 10 console. Granted, for their entire history Microsoft have shipped junk console, but that is simply not the case anymore.
    - op00to 8y ago
      It was almost usable in Windows 10, but the latest update broke cut and paste for me.
    - setquk 8y ago
      It’s still not great and it’s a lot slower than putty.
      - floatboth 8y ago
        You can use ConEmu instead of the stock console.
      - ocdtrekkie 8y ago
        cmd is pretty darn fast. PowerShell leaves a lot to be desired on the performance end though, takes a few seconds to load up the prompt. :/
        nailer 8y ago
        Powershell 6 has a way faster start time. https://github.com/mikemaccana/powershell-profile/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/mikemaccana/powershell-profile/blob/maste...
    - phil21 8y ago
pizza 8y ago
Same here, and I'd like to thank the developer(s) of KiTTY, too!
justherefortart 8y ago
Wow, I didn't realize putty was so new in 99. I just used it because I needed a set of good client tools on my windows box. Many thanks to them, they made my life so much easier in the early 2000s.
NelsonMinar 8y ago
PuTTY is indeed wonderful, and may still have a future because of its particular TTY emulator. The Windows vt100 emulator built into the command console isn't awful, but still has some rough edges. PuTTY has been well sanded down. And shout out also to SecureCRT which has been serving SSH client needs on Windows for even longer. Albeit commercial software, not open source.
grawprog 8y ago
Oh wow...it's been so long since i've used windows I forgot about PuTTY...that takes me back.
gowld 8y ago
The most prolific puzzle game maker and also the SSH savior!
lloydatkinson 8y ago
It also has a terrible UI, considering it's a 19 year old product that seeminly never gets updated. 1) The IP input field is a text box; meaning I can type in 24324.3453.546.12321 and there's no mask. 2) Weird mess of modal and non-modal dialogs. 3) On a related note, if I open a shell window, close the main PUTTY window, but then the shell didn't manage to connect... it presents an error dialog and closes all the windows. How fucking annoying is that? You then have to open the start menu and run PUTTY again. 4) Copy/Paste is a total joke. Want to copy just a line of bit of text? No you get the whole 20 pages worth of scrollbuffer copied into it. I really welcome this change. PUTTY had it's chance and they didn't even attempt to get a nice UI/UX.
- Zekio 8y ago
  Pretty sure the input field is made to support IP, Hostname or Domain name

ocdtrekkie 8y ago

RIP my need for PuTTY going forward though, really. I guess I probably still need PuTTY for console cable maybe? But yes, hat tip to one incredibly handy piece of software.

jkaplowitz 8y ago
It's still the only SSH client I know that can change most of its settings during an existing session, especially in a cross-platform way (it is available for Linux). Good software indeed.
- benjohnson 8y ago
  Forgive me for a dumb question, but I'm trying to be helpful. Are you talking about tunnels and port forwards? OpenSSH can do that - you type in an escape sequence and you can work your magic on the fly.
  - soccerdave 8y ago
    Just wanted to thank you for this answer. I never knew about OpenSSH escape sequences and I've used ssh for years. https://pleiades.ucsc.edu/hyades/SSH_Escape_Sequences https://pleiades.ucsc.edu/hyades/SSH_Escape_Sequences
  - jkaplowitz 8y ago
    No, I'm talking about a lot more settings than that including things about terminal emulation and keyboards. Next time you use PuTTY, try opening up the settings window for an existing session and see how many can be changed without having to restart afresh. Some of these could be changed in various more disjointed ways in Linux or Windows, but it's nicely unified and cross-platform in PuTTY. I'll admit I rarely leverage this flexibility, but it's cool enough that it seemed worth noting in this sub-thread about singing PuTTY's well-deserved praises.
snarfy 8y ago
PuTTY is a real window, not that /subystem:console garbage that you can barely cut&paste from. Granted the console has gotten better in Windows 10, but still not nearly as good as a real window like PuTTY gives you. I'll probably keep using PuTTY for this reason.
- zaat 8y ago
  Not sure what you are missing in the Windows 10 console. Granted, for their entire history Microsoft have shipped junk console, but that is simply not the case anymore.
  - op00to 8y ago
    It was almost usable in Windows 10, but the latest update broke cut and paste for me.
  - setquk 8y ago
    It’s still not great and it’s a lot slower than putty.
    - floatboth 8y ago
      You can use ConEmu instead of the stock console.
    - ocdtrekkie 8y ago
      cmd is pretty darn fast. PowerShell leaves a lot to be desired on the performance end though, takes a few seconds to load up the prompt. :/
      - nailer 8y ago
        Powershell 6 has a way faster start time. https://github.com/mikemaccana/powershell-profile/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/mikemaccana/powershell-profile/blob/maste...
  - phil21 8y ago

pizza 8y ago

Same here, and I'd like to thank the developer(s) of KiTTY, too!

justherefortart 8y ago

Wow, I didn't realize putty was so new in 99. I just used it because I needed a set of good client tools on my windows box. Many thanks to them, they made my life so much easier in the early 2000s.

NelsonMinar 8y ago

PuTTY is indeed wonderful, and may still have a future because of its particular TTY emulator. The Windows vt100 emulator built into the command console isn't awful, but still has some rough edges. PuTTY has been well sanded down. And shout out also to SecureCRT which has been serving SSH client needs on Windows for even longer. Albeit commercial software, not open source.

grawprog 8y ago

Oh wow...it's been so long since i've used windows I forgot about PuTTY...that takes me back.

gowld 8y ago

The most prolific puzzle game maker and also the SSH savior!

lloydatkinson 8y ago

It also has a terrible UI, considering it's a 19 year old product that seeminly never gets updated. 1) The IP input field is a text box; meaning I can type in 24324.3453.546.12321 and there's no mask. 2) Weird mess of modal and non-modal dialogs. 3) On a related note, if I open a shell window, close the main PUTTY window, but then the shell didn't manage to connect... it presents an error dialog and closes all the windows. How fucking annoying is that? You then have to open the start menu and run PUTTY again. 4) Copy/Paste is a total joke. Want to copy just a line of bit of text? No you get the whole 20 pages worth of scrollbuffer copied into it. I really welcome this change. PUTTY had it's chance and they didn't even attempt to get a nice UI/UX.

Zekio 8y ago
Pretty sure the input field is made to support IP, Hostname or Domain name