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Rust rewrite of BitchX IRC client
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grabchars gets one or more keystrokes directly from the user
6 starsShell
Grabchars 2.0 – get keystrokes direct, first update in 36 years
by buckydigital·Mar 2, 2026·3 points·1 comment
AI Analysis
●●SolidNiche GemWizardry
36-year-old tool revived with line editing and arrow keys for interactive shell inputs.
Strengths
- •POSIX signal handling (SIGALRM timeout, proper cleanup) demonstrates deep systems thinking rare in modern rewrites.
- •Mask mode validates input patterns (phone numbers, dates) without hardcoding, genuinely useful for form-like scripts.
- •Exit status = character count enables clean shell integration (`if grabchars -n 1 | grep -q [yn]`).
Weaknesses
- •Audience is narrow: terminal users writing interactive scripts. Most modern tooling (fzf, dmenu, dialog) already cover overlapping use cases.
- •No Windows native support, limiting adoption outside Unix environments.
Category
Target Audience
Shell script authors, system administrators, terminal-based TUI developers
Similar To
fzf · dmenu · dialog
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