what is a line editor?

Ive asked a lot of people this question and have never get a straight answer. If you do a web search you will see the same bullshit definition over and over, that it is an editor that only edited one line at a time before the advent of monitors. So can someone tell me exactly what you are physically looking at when using a line editor? If there is no screen what is the text being displayed on?

>>10
Back to /digg/ please.
Here in /prog/ we treat grammar nazis as the attention whoring scum they are

>>11
Oh god, it's that guy again.
If what you say is true, how come there are/have been some prominent descriptivist activists at /prog/ while you really can't pin down separate ``grammar nazis''?

>>12
You're wrong.
You lose.
Quit crying, you're embarrassing yourself, troll

>>12
in other words you're saying:
i like to pleasure my anus with a thesaurus.
and
i always dreamed of sucking my english teacher's cock
freak

>>12
Says the banana thickshake politician.
If I was eating at macdonalds I would not order your happymeal.

>>11-15
OKAY YOU FUQIN ANGERED AN EXPERT PROGRAMMER

>>16
translation:
you caused slight annoyance to a first year CS student.
also, cocks

>>17
Hey, fuck you, buddy.
I am you, buddy.
I never slept with your sister, that was just a rumour.

>>11-19 are Xarn.
This whole thread is only inside Xarn's head.