DELETE/BACKSPACE key paradox on RS/6000

[Craig Macbride]

rcd at ico.isc.com (Dick Dunn) writes:

>> The real problem is that your vt100 has a "delete" key which sends "del", and
>> no proper "backspace" key to send "bs"...

>This is not in the least true, probably explained by the later statement: [...]
>The VT100 has both backspace and delete; it's just that the delete is at
>the end of a row while the backspace has the break key to its right.  Thus
>delete is slightly more convenient.

Sorry I wasn't more precise. By a "proper" backspace key, I meant to imply one
that is in the usual position and is thus relatively useable. For someone who
uses a variety of keyboards and backspaces often, the standard vt100 bs key is
not practical. The delete is not "slightly" more practical ... it is where a
backspace usually is, and as such is _the_ key people will naturally press to
backspace.

>This is also true of relatively faithful VT100 clones.

Maybe we just get different hardware over here, but I've never met a vt100
clone which could not be configured to send bs when you press the delete key.

>> ...Change the vt100 to act like a normal terminal (having a
>> convenient backspace!) is the easiest solution.

>Well, the VT100 is not programmable to alter the codes generated by the
>keys, so that's not an answer.  But really, is the software problem of
>setting the erase character so difficult that "change the hardware" is
>an easier answer?!?  I hope not!

The easiest answer is to have clones which allow for the standard sending of
bs by the key in the backspace position. This is what the majority of people
here seem to do. When you have one type of terminal which acts differently to
all others, all you end up doing is confusing the less Unix-aware users and
irritating the rest. Also, I've come across various programs which are stupid
enough to want to read backspaces no matter what the erase char is set to by
stty.

I'm not saying that choosing sensible hardware which follows the same standards
as everyone else is necessarily the only approach, but the alternative is messy.
It is not "difficult" to set the erase character, so long as you're someone who
knows enough about Unix to do that, but you've still got to remember to do it.
More importantly, there are people out there who use Unix boxes purely as
computers to run packages on. These packages have no way of knowing that a
vt100 has the delete key where the backspace key should be, and so you have
users who know nothing about stty and who suddenly use a vt100 and have no
idea why things go bananas when they try to backspace things. If their system's
default for intr is delete, then they _really_ get confused. Hooray for user-
unfriendly hardware!

 _--_|\		Craig Macbride	<uni: s900387 at minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au>
/      \			<work: craig at bacchus.esa.oz.au>
\_.--.*/	VUT (RMIT) is responsible for the equipment, not the opinions!
      v
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 _____________________________________________________________________________
| Craig Macbride, s900387 at minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au |  Reality is for people who   |
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| of Technology (RMIT); The opinions are mine. |______________________________|