In a GUI form, or for example a login box on a website, it's usual for masked characters to appear like *********
as you type out your password.
But in terminal applications, for example ssh
, this is rare - it's usual just for the terminal to have echo off as the user inputs password.
Why this discrepancy? I'm of the opinion that the echo is just as useful on a tty as it is on a GUI. It gives you some visual feedback to your actions so you know the input is going somewhere, and if you accidentally bumped two keys you can notice it immediately and backspace appropriately.