[kwlug-disc] cool tool: ttyd

[Chris Frey]

On Sat, Oct 25, 2025 at 10:23:35AM -0400, Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:
> So what are the practical uses for it?

You could wrap it on the web side with a login first.

But for me, it is a more generic version of python's textual-server,
allowing you to code something as a TUI using any TUI library you please,
and still release it on the web.

As long as your TUI app has no way to spawn a shell, and as long
as you don't use a shell to launch your TUI (so that Ctrl-Z won't drop
you back to the shell), I can't see how you can gain access to the host
via a TUI application.

It's an exercise in portability.  Similar to writing an app in C++
using the imGUI graphics library, and then compiling it to
webassembly and releasing it on the web too (see
https://github.com/jnmaloney/WebGui and
https://jnmaloney.github.io/WebGui/imgui.html for example of that).

I like finding these alternate ways to get applications to "market".
That webassembly target allows for release of GUIs and games onto
Apple without bothering with their dev ID and license nonsense.

- Chris