Indeed, it’s amazing how much stuff was / is out there in the open.

Hobbyist use of unencrypted protocols like telnet can be very educational, and the other commenter is right that not everything needs to be encrypted, especially within the confines of a homelab, for instance.

My support for ending telnet use is much more about things like IoT systems, industrial hardware and so on talking in the clear and being vulnerable to compromise.

This isn’t about telnet, per se, but is a good example of the problem: news.satnews.com/…/russia-intercepts-europes-key-…