2 ms·

Yes I remember Minix in particular being so fast on my old 386sx. If I would run something that output a lot it would come through so fast there was hardly any

Yes I remember Minix in particular being so fast on my old 386sx. If I would run something that output a lot it would come through so fast there was hardly any scrolling. It was like it just output the last page only. But everything was in the output buffer so this wasn't the case. I've never seen another OS so fast even with a terminal emulator known for speed like kitty. I didn't have time to read the article yet but I assume those DOS era display cards were just hella optimised for text output.

rbanffy 4y ago
I remember how mad I was at PCs when the BIOS slowed down text output because CGAs couldn’t keep the video signed up while the computer was writing to video memory. My Apple II could write text faster than a PC. > It was like it just output the last page only. There are times you want the scrolling so you have an idea of how much went by the terminal.
- GekkePrutser 4y ago
  > There are times you want the scrolling so you have an idea of how much went by the terminal. True, it was not very handy, but I was very impressed :)
nextos 4y ago
Text mode Linux is pretty fast. On Emacs, stuff is almost too fast. There's a very noticeable difference compared to a X stack known for its low latency (X, no compositor and XTerm).
- GekkePrutser 4y ago
  text mode is pretty fast but slower than Minix's was. I think part of the reason is that most distros don't use the native text console but use their own (they draw their own characters because 80x25 is not really handy on a 27" display :P ). And I think GPU's don't really optimise this mode like the DOS ones did. After all, this mode is only ever used for the boot screen (and these days often not even there!). Or perhaps for ESXi or Linux servers, not an important usecase and not something people really interact with on a daily basis anyway.

2 ms·

Yes I remember Minix in particular being so fast on my old 386sx. If I would run something that output a lot it would come through so fast there was hardly any

by GekkePrutser 4y ago

rbanffy 4y ago
I remember how mad I was at PCs when the BIOS slowed down text output because CGAs couldn’t keep the video signed up while the computer was writing to video memory. My Apple II could write text faster than a PC. > It was like it just output the last page only. There are times you want the scrolling so you have an idea of how much went by the terminal.
- GekkePrutser 4y ago
  > There are times you want the scrolling so you have an idea of how much went by the terminal. True, it was not very handy, but I was very impressed :)
nextos 4y ago
Text mode Linux is pretty fast. On Emacs, stuff is almost too fast. There's a very noticeable difference compared to a X stack known for its low latency (X, no compositor and XTerm).
- GekkePrutser 4y ago
  text mode is pretty fast but slower than Minix's was. I think part of the reason is that most distros don't use the native text console but use their own (they draw their own characters because 80x25 is not really handy on a 27" display :P ). And I think GPU's don't really optimise this mode like the DOS ones did. After all, this mode is only ever used for the boot screen (and these days often not even there!). Or perhaps for ESXi or Linux servers, not an important usecase and not something people really interact with on a daily basis anyway.