The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source The terminal as a platform (Interview)
Oct 21, 2022
In this discussion, Will McGugan, creator of the Textual and Rich Python libraries and founder of Textualize, delves into the revolutionary potential of terminal environments. He shares insights on building beautiful terminal apps and how they can serve as an alternative to web interfaces. The conversation touches on the accessibility of Python for everyone, the integration of modern web technologies into TUIs, and the challenges of launching open-source projects. Will emphasizes the importance of community-driven development and the advantages of a transparent startup culture.
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Untapped Power of Terminals
- Terminals offer high performance capabilities, including 60fps and GPU utilization, similar to video games.
- This allows for rich, interactive experiences like smooth scrolling and animations, enhancing usability.
The Terminal's Virtue
- The terminal's focused environment promotes productivity by minimizing distractions.
- Textual aims to maintain keyboard-centric navigation, keeping users within the terminal's flow.
Terminal's System Access
- Unlike browsers, terminal applications have direct access to the file system, control mechanisms, and OS APIs.
- This allows for powerful system-related tasks and configurations, especially with administrative access.