This history of Return / Enter / whatever it is on your keyboard is more fascinating and surprising than I expected. Worth reading:
https://aresluna.org/the-day-return-became-enter/
(via https://twostopbits.com/ which will be of interest to some of you, via https://tilde.zone/@movq/115124813215685011 via @rk because Attribution Damnit™ as I was indoctrinated long ago and feel like indulging tonight.)
> It was only when typewriters embraced electricity in the 1940s and 1950s that the carriage return completed its transformation into a key, and the distinctive lever could be detached.
I can't name a model off the top of my head, but I've def used typewriters that use a non-electric return key rather than lever. There was a spring that wants to push the carriage to the left. The action of normal typing compresses the spring, and the return key releases a latch releasing the spring.
> There was a difference between returning to a new line within a form field, and the act of submitting – entering – the entire form.
Coming from a Unix/ANSI-term freeform-text background, I was initially confused that the VT220's configuration menus required me to hit "enter" on the numpad, rather than "return" on the main part of the keyboard. I mentioned this to a friend who was around at the time, and he explained that (even though the VT220 didn't have a 3270-like mode) the
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@cks @rk distinction would have been very natural to terminal operators who were used to text-return and form-enter on IBM 3270 forms.
(The VT220's LK201 keyboard (1982) is notable for its influence on the IBM Model M keyboard (1985) layout, which of course became the standard keyboard layout we all know today. (Even Apple adopted it on the AEK in 1987.))
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Even today, when you use an IBM Z system (a modern mainframe) you can connect to it using terminal emulators. The IBM 3270 had the enter key down to the right and, with terminal emulators; you still have to use the right CTRL key as enter in PCs.
You need to use the right-option key in Macs.
Of course you can reconfigure the emulator but I don’t know anyone working with mainframes that has done so.
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