Instead of unaliasls to avoid having just ls send ANSI color escape codes to the terminal, he should really have passed the term argument to agetty, like maybe dumb.
EDIT: At 10:22, where he starts typing the login, it looks like the teletype does seek back up to reposition the cursor at “LOGIN:”, so it does support at least some limited escape codes. Maybe something a little smarter than dumb.
Hell, maybe there’s even an existing terminfo/termcap entry for a compatible teletype.
Will give a searchable list of supported terminfo entries on a given Linux system.
On Debian trixie, I don’t see an entry for a Model 15 Teletype, but they do have an entry for a “model 33 or 35 teletype”, tty33.
EDIT3: Searching eBay, looks like there are apparently teletype machines available on eBay, though some additional poking around suggests that that may not be the most affordable way to get one.
Hello everyone. I have always liked manual typewriters, as well as vintage computers. When I found out that teletypes existed, I thought the heavens had aligned for my ultimate device. Then I realized that I could not, for the life of me, find one at a decent price. I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of the hobbyists online did not purchase machines that were in need of repair for upwards of $2000. (Thanks, eBay.) So my question is, where should I look if I want to purchase my first teletype without getting ripped off? I assume those prices are very inflated, as I can’t imagine there is a massive market for these things. Also, does anyone have any suggestions for a good starting model? I just want to hook it up as a serial terminal. I have experience with modems, and if a modem is hardwired in, that’s fine.
Oh yeah, don’t go buy one on ebay. People are insane about what they think their junk is worth, plus shipping is prohibitive. What you should do is subscribe to the Greenkeys mailing list and introduce yourself.
Then do a little research about what kind of gear you want - an ascii one, like a 33, the kind they used to use as a computer terminal? An older 5-level one like a model 28? Even older, a model 15 or 19, or a 14 that prints/punches on paper tape instead of roll paper? Something obscure and odd looking like a 26? And ancient and rare historical artifact like a 12? Plus all the different countries’ variants, etc.
Once you have some idea what you’re looking for, post to the greenkeys list and say what you’re after, how much work you’re able to put into getting it working (do you want something you can just start using, or do you want a restoration project?) and most importantly where you live.
Once you’ve put it out there what you’re looking for, if it’s not super unusual it’s not unheard of for it to just appear at your door. A bunch of people have more teletype machines than they can really keep, and would much rather see them go to a good home than be scrapped. Especially since many collectors are elderly and thinking about what will happen to their stuff when they die.
EDIT4: Oh, looking at the agetty command line, he passed “asr33”, for the term parameter, which is apparently a (much, much newer than the machine he has) teletype machine, but it shouldn’t support color, so I don’t know why he’d be worried about that. Maybe his ls aliased to ls --color=always instead of ls --color=auto or something; they don’t show it in the video. Or maybe unaliasing it wasn’t necessary, and he just didn’t realize it.
Instead of
unalias lsto avoid having justlssend ANSI color escape codes to the terminal, he should really have passed thetermargument toagetty, like maybedumb.EDIT: At 10:22, where he starts typing the login, it looks like the teletype does seek back up to reposition the cursor at “LOGIN:”, so it does support at least some limited escape codes. Maybe something a little smarter than
dumb.Hell, maybe there’s even an existing terminfo/termcap entry for a compatible teletype.
EDIT2:
Will give a searchable list of supported terminfo entries on a given Linux system.
On Debian trixie, I don’t see an entry for a Model 15 Teletype, but they do have an entry for a “model 33 or 35 teletype”,
tty33.EDIT3: Searching eBay, looks like there are apparently teletype machines available on eBay, though some additional poking around suggests that that may not be the most affordable way to get one.
https://old.reddit.com/r/Teletype/comments/g30rdi/where_to_buy_first_teletype/
Teletype post
EDIT4: Oh, looking at the agetty command line, he passed “asr33”, for the
termparameter, which is apparently a (much, much newer than the machine he has) teletype machine, but it shouldn’t support color, so I don’t know why he’d be worried about that. Maybe hislsaliased tols --color=alwaysinstead ofls --color=autoor something; they don’t show it in the video. Or maybe unaliasing it wasn’t necessary, and he just didn’t realize it.