Are We Legacy Computing Yet?

The Unicode Standard has designated specific blocks of symbols, known as Symbols for Legacy Computing and its supplement, to represent graphical elements from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. These symbols were initially designed to enhance terminal user interfaces by displaying pictures, creating games, and rendering semi-graphical content on text grids.

While most modern fonts lack the necessary paths to display these characters, several terminal emulators have implemented custom drawing routines to support them. By testing various emulators with fonts missing these glyphs, it was discovered that certain terminals employ custom logic to render these symbols directly on the screen.

The investigation classified these symbols as either important or unimportant for displaying graphical elements, depending on their utility in creating visual content like bar charts or games. This manual testing process highlights the ongoing legacy of these computing symbols and the role of terminal emulators in preserving their functionality.