I started with computers in the late 70's. A TRS-80 Model I and a Model 4P were my first computers. On the 'one' I learned BASIC, on the second I worked with the interface of the OS. I never was afraid of the CLI. In later MS-DOS times I got to building my own menu-systems, with interlocking BATch-files. Great fun, and easy to use for people who weren't as computer-savvy as I.

Anyway, later I moved towards Windows and the GUI-world, and made a carreer out of IT. The occasional use of the CLI in Windows was a bonus I enjoyed, because my BATch-writing skills were still useful, despite VB-script and PowerShell. Through the years, I was always sad as I saw another batch of computers being thrown out, because they weren't 'powerful' enough any more. While they were powerful enough to run their contemporary versions of the software, and certainly good enough to run DOS and my old menu systems.

A few years ago I switched to Linux. Under Linux I enjoyed using old computers, picked out of the dumpsters of the IT-department, and remembered what I had done under DOS.

That's what I want to re-create now. For starters, a easy-programmable computer, just like the original TRS-80. Then, a CLI system where everything but the games is still text-based. And I want to build that on top of Linux. Any Linux, on any old (compatible) computer.
The first steps are easy: get any Linux distro without a GUI or DE (typically, a server distro), and you have a text-based system. Midnight commander is a great filemanager and can be used as editor, too. That's the first to install. But then what?

Other application programs, text-based, do they still exist? I found this:
https://chen115yaohua.wordpress.com/...t-without-gui/
... and it looks promising. I'm apparently not the first one to go down that road. But spreadsheet (As-easy-as or 1-2-3 clone) and wordprocessing (WP5.1, WORD for DOS) can they still be found ?

Programming can be done in bash, or python. (don't know bash, have to brush up on Python) But I want to expand, and go back at the same time. I'm looking for a real IDE for Python, but text-based, like the QBASIC of old. And why not, a real (Q)BASIC lookalike, also in text? Do these things still exist in pure text, did they ever exist, or do I have to make do with my own combo of editor and program interpreter/compiler?

Any pointers, thoughts or comments ?

Howdy!

Almost every distro at Distrowatch can easily be used command line. Either don't install a window manager or simply don't start it.

Almost all of the old stuff exists. There are many programming languages to select from.

Other things you might like looking into: FreeDOS (A DOS replacement that is FOSS. FreeBASIC the basic interpreter and compiler for multiple operating systems that started as a replacement for QuickBasic and forgot how to quit. DOSBOX: run a DOS environment under ANY supported operating system. I use DOSBOX to run all of my old DOS games and programs (under Linux, natch).

Minimal DEBIAN would be a great non-gui base for anything. AntiX also has much to recommend it.

Sounds like FUN!

Hi,

- spreadsheets: There is a very cool app called visidata. See https://www.visidata.org/

- wordprocessing: Couldn't say, I use latex and my favourite text editor for fancy document production

- Python IDE: What about emacs with appropriate modules loaded? See
https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/Pyth...rammingInEmacs
I think it should be able to do what you want.
Evo2.

I find that grml is especially well-suited for command-line-only use. The grml-small variant comes without GUI.

Here's a write up you might like to have a read of - https://www.linuxjournal.com/content...irely-terminal

& this one too - https://github.com/agarrharr/awesome-cli-apps

You don't need to avoid distributions with a GUI. The command line is available.

Most work I do is in terminals. You can write, debug, and execute code in the command line. Just learn the shell language and a good number command line commands. And use whichever programming languages you wish.

I wonder how emacs wangles its way into a thread titled "Back to BASICs"

I say why not?

First, I have installed emacs to work on the framebuffer versus through a display manager and XServer. I don't prefer it. And also I don't prefer "pure" command line, because you only ever seem to have one of them. I do like to use multiple command lines and workspaces, and be able to swap around rapidly. I learned how to type formally, way back when, so using the keyboard is my primary thing over the mouse. My favorite is 4 workspaces, I set it up so that ALT-<direction key> takes me where I want to go in the square, ALT-TAB swaps within the workspace and I normally only have 2 things open, a command line and an editor or a debugger, or (yes) a browser. The browser is because I do sometimes need to web search. I know vi, not an expert, but I can edit and save files, I just know emacs far better. The mouse is not used much, by me in this type of setup. I still consider it fairly basic, purists I'm sure, will not.

Ummm: good for you? But what has that to do with the OP's question?

Ah, I remember as-easy-as! If you want to run a spreadsheet (with curses) on a CLI system, you could try this (I've not used it myself)
scim

Word processing, as opposed to text editing, is a different kettle of fish. I remember Peachtext with DOS — and not with affection. If I have to edit without a GUI, I use Nano.

If you like BASIC, there are a few, such as
FreeBasic

Given that you want to create exactly the types of interfaces that you see with Midnight Commander, I'd look into their code, or look at the Nano source, those are both on GitHub.

Each of those are capable of working under an display manager or directly to the console. I think there will be plenty of code you can learn from for ideas how to draw the screen and provide content menus, pop up questions or notifications, etc.

An ncurses word processor of sorts is WordGrinder.

For BASIC interpreters under Linux, there are many:

BWBASIC is similar to GW-BASIC without graphics.
Bas is another text-mode GW-BASIC like interpreter.
Yabasic and Blassic have graphics.
Blassic has instructions similar to those of Amstrad CPC computers.
QB64 is similar to QBasic.
Gambas is similar to Visual Basic.

I have myself programmed a spreadsheet-viewer but stopped when it did what I wanted:
display spreadsheets which are received by mail. As I use Mutt for mail, a text-only spreadsheet viewer comes handy, as I start it from Mutt with a keyboard-shortcut.

Any office-file in one of the XML-formats (xslx, docx, odt, ods, tmdx, pmdx, abi) can be accessed and manipulated by any programming language which opens and stores zip-files.
Where there is a need, people will program this stuff.

Myself, I stopped because there was not much else to do, as I still use normal office-software to *save* my documents, but there will be more and more libraries, which allow saving such files.

The most powerful, that *I know* is Apache-POI: Know Java and you know to write text-based office-software.

Edit: Forgot. My spreadsheet-viewer is Viewworkbook and available from rubygems.org. I have a blog-post on that, too.