Bug#259828: tabs mangled to spaces when copying from xterm

[Lee Revell <rlrevell@joe-job.com>]

On Fri, 2004-07-16 at 18:34, Thomas Dickey wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 16, 2004 at 11:40:08PM +0200, Lee Revell wrote:
> > Package: xterm
> > Version: 4.3.0.dfsg.1-6
> > Severity: important
>             ^^^^^^^^^ (disagree)
> > 
> > 
> > xterm mangles tabs to spaces when copying/pasting with middle mouse
> > button.
> 
> It's a well-known limitation: xterm selects text which is on the screen.
> Tab characters are (without any exceptions) translated to blanks.  That's
> modified somewhat by erasures and wrapping.
> 
> (it would be nice to improve the behavior - but it's a minor issue).
>  

Sorry, I think this is important.  It makes it impossible to copy and
paste a diff into an email and have the patch apply cleanly.  As a
result, some lists (like alsa-devel) request patches be sent as
attachments.  For a list like linux-kernel, where inline patches are
preferred, there is no good alternative.

The definition of an important bug (given by reportbug) is "a bug which
has a major effect on the usability of a package, without rendering it
completely unusable to everyone".  How does the above fail to qualify?

Lee