Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!ucsd!pacbell.com!tandem!netcom!ergo
From: ergo@netcom.UUCP (Isaac Rabinovitch)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: Telix 3.12 destructive backspace "bug"
Message-ID: <15918@netcom.UUCP>
Date: 31 Oct 90 07:29:12 GMT
References: <5433@quiche.cs.mcgill.ca>
Distribution: na
Organization: UESPA
Lines: 37

In <5433@quiche.cs.mcgill.ca> depeche@quiche.cs.mcgill.ca (Acme Instant Dehydrated Boulder Kit) writes:

>Apparently, there are a couple versions of telix 3.12 floating around.
>The one I got from terminator.cc.umich.edu is older - it has the
>"can't set destructive backspace off" bug.

>I am interested in getting the latest (or at least, a version where I can
>save destructive backspace OFF permanently). Could someone e-mail me an
>ftp site where I can find it, as well as the directory where it is located??

The "destructive backspace bug" is really a myth, created by sloppy
user interface design, and from having crucial information carefully
hidden in complicated documentation and menus.

Yes, an Options Save won't preserve the state of the Destructive
Backspace toggle in the Terminal Options menu.  That's because this
toggle is set or cleared *every* time you connect to one of the entries
in the Dial directory; the t  If you look at the form that comes up when you
edit a directory entry, you will see that you can designate each system
as needing or not needing destructive backspace.  The clumsy design of
this particular form makes it easy to overlook this toggle.  The
default is Destructive, since Telix originates with DOS-based BBSers.
If you stop and think about it, you'll see why some people would not
want to have the same value of this toggle for all numbers.  The
version which "fixes" this "bug" is an unoffical patch job.

Incidentally, you can also fix this by modifying your termcap entry so
that VI knows that your backspace is destructive.  That's what *I* did
back when I thought the DBS was a bug!
-- 

ergo@netcom.uucp			Isaac Rabinovitch
netcom!ergo@apple.com			Silicon Valley, CA
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