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Re: proposal: 'xterm' alternatives entry



Once upon a time martin f krafft said...
> 
> The procedure would be to upload a new 'xterm' package which moves
> /usr/bin/xterm to /usr/bin/xterm.real and introduces /usr/bin/xterm
> as alternatives symlink in addition to x-terminal-emulator. Then,
> progressively, the other x-terminal-emulator providers can start to
> add xterm to their postinst scripts.
> 
> What do you think of this proposal. Are there any string points
> *against* it?

Perhaps this is a bit tangential, but I really wish that xterm
replacements would not use the TERM string of "xterm" unless it
completely supports the escape sequences that xterm(1) supports.

In my bashrc, I use some query escape sequences to determine the text
colour and expect to be able to read back a response. When using other
terminal emulators that say they are TERM=xterm but aren't, they dont
respond to the escape sequence query and my login hangs, waiting to read
the response from the terminal.

So, I propose the opposite to you. A terminal emulator should not
identify itself as xterm in any way unless it completely and accurately
supports the same interfaces that xterm(1) does.



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