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From: mlandau@Diamond.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.emacs
Subject: Re: While we're blaming the terminal...
Message-ID: <2789@slate.Diamond.BBN.COM>
Date: Wed, 10-Dec-86 11:18:07 EST
Article-I.D.: slate.2789
Posted: Wed Dec 10 11:18:07 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 14-Dec-86 02:10:36 EST
References: <8612020023.AA05566@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <533@omssw2.UUCP>
Reply-To: mlandau@Diamond.BBN.COM (Matt Landau)
Organization: BBN Laboratories, Inc., Cambridge, MA
Lines: 20

In comp.emacs (article <533@omssw2.UUCP>), dps@omssw2.UUCP (Dave Schneider) writes:
>
>I would like to add a complaint about terminal manufacturers who set up the
>arrow  keys  to  send  single character control codes.  
>
>Does anyone know why Televideo and Wyse made this  contribution  to  brain-
>damage?

Well, one can argue (quite successfully) that sending single-character 
codes for arrow and function keys makes it a lot easier to write programs
to use those keys.  Having to read multiple characters (and, in some
Emacs'es, set up multiple keymaps) to deal with arrow keys that send
things like Esc-[-A is pretty much a crock.  It's just a crock that has
been around for a long time, thanks to things like the VT100.  When 
does it become time to say "We don't CARE if that's how it's been done
for the past 10 years.  It's time to do something BETTER!"?
-- 
 Matt Landau      	 		BBN Laboratories, Inc.
    mlandau@diamond.bbn.com		10 Moulton Street, Cambridge MA 02238
 ...seismo!diamond.bbn.com!mlandau      (617) 497-2429