Re: what's up with xterm?
Hello
I'd like to back up Arrigo on the matter of xterm-debian.
I see lots of logic behind his reasoning. I'm not running
a huge network, I'm only resposible to maintain computers
in my lab, still I got that problem, I was refered to the
URL, I have edited the files, now the problem is solved,
just few people have cursed me for screwing up the system.
But why on Earth had the problem to arise at all?
This is pretty obvious that if slink to be released like
that, many-many people will have the same problem, some
will go straight to editing files, but most of them will
have to be referred to this URL. I'm not a system administrator,
I'm a graduate student. I have to get down to my goddam
thesis, instead Brandon suggest me learning UNIX to the
level of sysadmin. Learning is great, but being as skilled
as a good sysadmin, I don't need any distributions any longer.
I can accept the statement that xterm-debian is right and
regular xterm is wrong (although I still don't see what
"hassles" was it trying to solve for me, I saw only problems).
However we should recall what is the idea behind Linux
distributions in general and Debian in particular - and I guess
helping people get the job done is pretty much like it.
What's the reason to have a "right" thing if it creates problems,
instead of solving them? What is criterion for "right" and "wrong"
here, when it comes to releasing the distribution for use by the
GENERAL public, not linux gurus?
I'm quite surprised by this discussion at all. Debian used to be
very good at solving such problems, giving users options to
choose from. Why not do it here? Why not at least inform the
user what is going to happen to his xterm after upgrade, so
he can take some action afterwards if needed? Why not to refer
the user to the URL at least right during upgrade, or does everyone
who encounters this problem and doesn't have the necessary
qualification have to subscribe to the mailing list to ask
questions? And why not having compatibility a priority at all?
It's been two weeks after I have changed that XTerm file.
Everything works fine. I'm getting no complains. So why was
that hassle created? Brandon said that "xterm-debian fixes some bugs that
cause more of a hassle to the user than remote logins do", what
are those? So far xterm-debian was causing hassle, at least for
me.
I beg the developers involved to remember that some people
(and they are the public you have decided to make distribution
for) use Debian not to study Unix, Linux or Debian xterm policy,
but to get some work done. You may think that it is an unworthy
cause compared to mastering terminfo magic, but then don't
complain about "low blows".
Best regards
Alex
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