[bakli]

I don't even remember why scroll lock exists

[jmkb]

It's an early implementation of the same idea as the mouse scroll wheel. Engage scroll lock, and the arrow keys are used for scrolling the current text view instead of moving the cursor.

The idea of also using it to pause scrolling console text, I think, originated in Linux.

[bitwize]

There was a PC Magazine utility from the 80s, WAITASEC.COM, that allowed you to use Scroll Lock to page through command output that had scrolled off the screen.

[equalunique]

On a Linux/Unix non-X system terminal, enabling Scroll Lock makes the Up and Down arrows function like a scroll wheel instead of iterating over command history like they usually would.

[bitwize]

I think only Lotus 1-2-3 actually used it, but Lotus 1-2-3 was literally the entire reason to use early PCs. With Scroll Lock active, in Lotus the movement keys would shift the whole spreadsheet, keeping the current cell highlight steady on the screen, rather than move the current cell highlight.

[corobo]

It's handy to lock your cursor on the right PC if you use Synergy [1] but aside from that I've never used it

[1] https://symless.com/synergy

[eropple]

At this point: Excel users.

[daguil68367]

On fullsize keyboards, Num Lock is less useful than Scroll Lock.

[equalunique]

Numlock would make a lot more sense if fullsize keyboards both didn't have arrow keys at all and also split the 0 numpad key into numlock & 0, so that way it's easier/simpler/ergonomic to toggle. We could also do away with Page Up, Page Down, Home, End, Delete, and Insert, since they're already integrated into the numlock key.

[ISL]

I knew, but had always wondered why anyone needed it.

Then, one day, on a bare terminal, output was flying by that I needed to read. The lightbulb went on, and I pressed the key.

[bt848]

I map it to lock the screen which makes so much more sense!

[danesparza]

Thank baby jeebus for Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scroll_Lock