Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!rbj
From: rbj@uunet.UU.NET (Root Boy Jim)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: POSIX bashing
Message-ID: <130073@uunet.UU.NET>
Date: 22 Apr 91 22:50:43 GMT
References: <1991Apr14.094953.12840@thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu> <129131@uunet.UU.NET> <1991Apr19.170447.8051@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu>
Organization: UUNET Communications Services, Falls Church, VA
Lines: 44

In article <1991Apr19.170447.8051@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> cks@hawkwind.utcs.toronto.edu (Chris Siebenmann) writes:
?rbj@uunet.UU.NET (Root Boy Jim) writes:
?| By now, everyone's terminal should be ANSI and require no padding, so
?| simple line editing should be reasonable to do. 
?
? "Should" is, I think the right word here. "Is" is definetly the wrong
?one; a significant chunk of local terminals are not ANSI, and many
?terminals can't manage to always keep up at 9600 baud.

In that case you don't get to use all that nifty editing, or perhaps
only a subset of it.

At NBS, the excess property people didn't even bother hauling the
many Datamedia 1521 terminals to whoever auctions them off. They'd
simply SMASH the screens, and throw them away. Televideo 950's
were still kept, but will end up there as soon as they've reached
the end of their devaluation schedule.

Cheap Wyse's are now what, $200 or so? Do they even make terminals
without ANSI compatible stuff anymore?

And by padding, I meant the per-command stuff, such as screen clear,
not continuous blasting. Besides, we're talking 80 character line
retyping here. If all else fails, run the damn terminal slower.

I don't care to support ancient or bizarre hardware.

As to the Blit's you mention, well they need a slew of software
anyway. And hardcopy terminals don't really count.

Besides, I also mentioned putting a small subset of termcap
into the kernel. The tty driver will do the best it can
with the information it has.

But we have to make some rules. No half duplex terminals
(this restriction already exists). No uppercase only.
No Hazeltine braindamage. No padding supported.
No tab expansion (I might change my mind on this one).

There is already a lot of code supporting all those features
I just mentioned. I'd like to swap it for something useful.
-- 
		[rbj@uunet 1] stty sane
		unknown mode: sane