3 ms·
I’m fascinated by the idea that someone is using an IBM 3151 terminal in 2019. Other than for nostalgia, should not those have been retired about a decade ago?
by drivingmenuts 7y ago
I’m fascinated by the idea that someone is using an IBM 3151 terminal in 2019. Other than for nostalgia, should not those have been retired about a decade ago?
- jgoerzen 7y agoI bought it off eBay a few weeks ago. As to why - sitting in front of emacs with a clicky model M keyboard produces a very different frame of mind. I am more focused and more deliberate in what I type (one doesn't just type ls /usr/bin on such a thing). Although it's by no means my primary computing device, I do find myself going down there for at least a little while on most days. It is a pleasant break, a change of scenery, a different mental state. I got it, and my vt420 and vt510, after thinking about the bifurcated nature of computing history. Although I started with computers in the 80s, it was the PC side of things. The Unix/"big iron" simply wasn't accessible to many in those days. I have spent decades doing work day in, day out in what amounts to a fancy vt510 emulator (xterm). I wanted to use the real thing. Also it got my son to play zork with me. I wrote about it here: https://changelog.complete.org/archives/10013-connecting-a-physical-dec-vt420-to-linux https://changelog.complete.org/archives/10013-connecting-a-p... and here: https://changelog.complete.org/archives/10031-resurrecting-ancient-operating-systems-on-debian-raspberry-pi-and-docker https://changelog.complete.org/archives/10031-resurrecting-a...