80x24
2026-05-08
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I use a terminal on every device I can put one on. That naturally includes all of my Linux devices, but I also use PowerShell and CygWin on Windows, as well as Termux on Android. Some of my computers don't have a GUI at all, so I live at the command line. And when I use a terminal, I use only two different sizes: fullscreen or 80x24. I'm writing this log in a terminal that is using 80x24.
80x24 refers to the number of characters that can fit inside a terminal window. The first dimension is the number of columns: 80 characters can fit from the left edge to the right edge. Conversely, 24 lines of text can fit from the top to the bottom. The 80x24 paradigm was originally popularized by IBM in the 1960s and '70s, since IBM punch cards could fit 80 characters. The rise of the VT100 made it a de facto standard. While larger sizes became common in the 1980s, 80 remained a width target for text files and source code for many years. Some tools and standards still reference it even today.
80x24 is not an easy terminal size to use. Less than two thousand characters fit into the entirety of the window, and even fewer if an interactive command features menus. Many ncurses-based tools barely fit into a space that small. Almost any line in a text file will wrap, and an increasing number of TUI programs don't fit in 80 columns or 24 lines at all--Reticulum's nomadnet comes to mind immediately.
However, I like using 80x24 for a few reasons. If I get used to reading text in such a small window, then I can comfortably use almost any terminal from almost any era. The limited view makes me think carefully about what I'm going to fill that view with, so I'm less inclined to run commands unnecessarily or output superfluous data. 80x24 is a common minimum size for terminals, so limiting myself to what fits in that grid will give me greater compatibility with other displays. Plus, I sometimes use CRTs and other small monitors, so having a hard terminal size limit isn't implausible for me.
I always write logs for my capsule in terminals, never with GUI tools. I find that 80x24 is perfectly sufficient for the task. While I'm writing, it also gives me even more of a retro feeling than Gemini itself already does.
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[Last updated: 2026-05-08]