Modern Linux on a Wyse Terminal

Let's go all retro and try out an old Wyse Terminal with a Linux install!


In this video, I'll walk through the basic concept of hardware terminals, what you'll need to connect to a Wyse Wy-55 terminal, and a few of the neat things you can do with one. It's surprisingly useful... if monochrome is your thing!

The commands you'll need:
ls /dev/*USB* (finds USB devices, outputs the ttyUSB device number)
sudo systemctl enable [email protected] (replace "0" with the device number from before, assuming you're systemd)


From there, a simple restart and hopefully, your terminal will be recognized!



And here are some helpful links I for things I reference in the video:


Debian Raspberry Pi page, including instructions: https://raspi.debian.net/
Rainbow Stream (terminal tweeting): https://github.com/orakaro/rainbowstream
The tweet I sent out from my terminal during the video:   / 1437254268050935814  
In addition, everything I learned about getty, I learned from Arch Wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Getty/
Lastly, I borrowed a picture of an old library terminal from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...