X-Recipient:	archive-cygwin AT delorie DOT com
X-SWARE-Spam-Status:	No, hits=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,SARE_MSGID_LONG40,SPF_PASS
X-Spam-Check-By:	sourceware.org
MIME-Version:	1.0
In-Reply-To:	<17kq9510j9kst8dcpc516i8ce10n64nlta@4ax.com>
References:	<announce DOT gaeo95tesfohfdbn4m8snu1afforj074rg AT 4ax DOT com> <416096c60908312242g39e38fe5s5dbe299e84f6afd8 AT mail DOT gmail DOT com> <loom DOT 20090901T165202-526 AT post DOT gmane DOT org> <loom DOT 20090901T182021-340 AT post DOT gmane DOT org> <416096c60909010945q1673b591w316629d54d606310 AT mail DOT gmail DOT com> <17kq9510j9kst8dcpc516i8ce10n64nlta AT 4ax DOT com>
Date:	Tue, 1 Sep 2009 20:14:07 +0100
Message-ID:	<416096c60909011214j22d74367t6cc6238b4808655a@mail.gmail.com>
Subject:	Re: [ANNOUNCEMENT] Updated: screen, now with 256-color support!
From:	Andy Koppe <andy DOT koppe AT gmail DOT com>
To:	cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
X-IsSubscribed:	yes
Mailing-List:	contact cygwin-help AT cygwin DOT com; run by ezmlm
List-Id:	<cygwin.cygwin.com>
List-Unsubscribe:	<mailto:cygwin-unsubscribe-archive-cygwin=delorie DOT com AT cygwin DOT com>
List-Subscribe:	<mailto:cygwin-subscribe AT cygwin DOT com>
List-Archive:	<http://sourceware.org/ml/cygwin/>
List-Post:	<mailto:cygwin AT cygwin DOT com>
List-Help:	<mailto:cygwin-help AT cygwin DOT com>, <http://sourceware.org/ml/#faqs>
Sender:	cygwin-owner AT cygwin DOT com
Mail-Followup-To:	cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Delivered-To:	mailing list cygwin AT cygwin DOT com

Andrew Schulman:
>>>> Instead of specifying -T screen-256color every time, one can just put
>>>> 'term screen-256color' into .screenrc. =C2=A0I'll update the docs to s=
how this
>>>> when I make the release current.
>>>
>>> Is there any reason that I shouldn't put this command into the default
>>> /etc/screenrc file?
>>
>> 'fraid so. Prompted by this thread I wondered the same thing about
>> mintty: why not set TERM to "xterm-256color" by default?
>>
>> Answer: because /etc/termcap doesn't know about it, and other programs
>> that read the TERM variable might not recognise it either.
>> Furthermore, user startup scripts that compare TERM to "xterm" or
>> "screen" would break.
>
> You're talking about setting e.g. TERM=3Dxterm-256color in the environmen=
t by
> default, but I was asking whether it would cause any harm to put 'term
> screen-256color' into the default /etc/screenrc. =C2=A0Know any reason th=
at I
> shouldn't?

Well, yes. 'term screen-256color' sets TERM=3Dscreen-256color in the
environment of programs running inside screen, hence any program or
script that recognises "screen" but not "screen-256color" will no
longer work as expected.

Furthermore, 'term screen-256color' (or '-T screen-256color') does not
activate 256-color mode in screen. It it screen querying terminfo and
finding that it is itself running in a 256-color terminal that does
that.

Hence, when screen is started with the usual TERM setting of "xterm"
or "rxvt", you'd end up telling programs running inside screen that
256 colors are available when that isn't actually the case.

Andy

--
Problem reports:       http://cygwin.com/problems.html
FAQ:                   http://cygwin.com/faq/
Documentation:         http://cygwin.com/docs.html
Unsubscribe info:      http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple

- Raw text -