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rbanffy11/04/20251 replyview on HN

While I agree that, if the function at hand can’t fit in a 25x80 window it most likely should be broken in smaller functions, there are kinder ways to say that.

I also joke God made the VT100 with 80 columns for a reason.


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mananaysiempre11/04/2025

... For the reason that IBM made their 1928 card with 80 columns, in an attempt to increase the storage efficiency of Hollerith’s 45-column card without increasing its size?

That said, ~60 characters per printed line has been the typographer’s recommendation for much longer. Which is why typographers dislike Times and derivatives when used on normal-sized single-column pages, as that typeface was made to squeeze more characters into narrow newspaper columns (it’s in the name).

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