Comment by JdeBP
1 day ago
You are very lucky to have a VT520. I have been idly on the look-out for a 525 for years, but not only are they inordinately expensive, the people selling them are not on the same continent as I am (and probably don't have my country's version of the LK).
I've been on the lookout partly just to see whether this works properly with a genuine VT525:
* https://jdebp.uk/Softwares/nosh/guide/commands/console-termi...
Yes, should tmux ever go away, there's another option for transliterating terminal output of applications that just expect all of the modern stuff with AIXTerm's 16 colours and alternate screen buffers and mouse sequences and whatnot and do not check TERM properly. (-:
The 525 was the color version, right?
I like the 520. It's easy because it's the last terminal DEC made, it's the fastest and it can work with ordinary PS/2 keyboards.
The downside is the design is really boring. It looks like a typical OEM VGA monitor from the 90s that you got with every cheap PC clone.
To be honest it's really hard to work with it these days because so many apps just blast xterm codes without checking anything. Tmux helps a bit but it's not perfect.
However I love the feel of it, it's mainly nostalgic but it's also great it can be dimmed so low it's hard to read in a darkened room. My PC monitor is so bright I already use it at 0% brightness during the day. And at night in the dark (I leave the lights off when I have the windows open) it's basically unusable. The 520 is great then and also good for concentrating because there's no distractions.
If you'd like me to test something let me know!
It's colour; but also takes an external VGA monitor rather than having its own.
* https://terminals-wiki.org/wiki/index.php/DEC_VT525