From owner-freebsd-current@freebsd.org Thu May 7 16:35:18 2020 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-current@mailman.nyi.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2610:1c1:1:606c::19:1]) by mailman.nyi.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7FAD12DDA16 for ; Thu, 7 May 2020 16:35:18 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-rwg@gndrsh.dnsmgr.net) Received: from mailman.nyi.freebsd.org (unknown [127.0.1.3]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 49HzbB1Q8Zz4NWy for ; Thu, 7 May 2020 16:35:18 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-rwg@gndrsh.dnsmgr.net) Received: by mailman.nyi.freebsd.org (Postfix) id 308A82DDA15; Thu, 7 May 2020 16:35:18 +0000 (UTC) Delivered-To: current@mailman.nyi.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2610:1c1:1:606c::19:1]) by mailman.nyi.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 305662DDA14 for ; Thu, 7 May 2020 16:35:18 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-rwg@gndrsh.dnsmgr.net) Received: from gndrsh.dnsmgr.net (br1.CN84in.dnsmgr.net [69.59.192.140]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 49Hzb96fR5z4NWx; Thu, 7 May 2020 16:35:17 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-rwg@gndrsh.dnsmgr.net) Received: from gndrsh.dnsmgr.net (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by gndrsh.dnsmgr.net (8.13.3/8.13.3) with ESMTP id 047GZGbM048719; Thu, 7 May 2020 09:35:16 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from freebsd-rwg@gndrsh.dnsmgr.net) Received: (from freebsd-rwg@localhost) by gndrsh.dnsmgr.net (8.13.3/8.13.3/Submit) id 047GZGC3048718; Thu, 7 May 2020 09:35:16 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from freebsd-rwg) From: "Rodney W. Grimes" Message-Id: <202005071635.047GZGC3048718@gndrsh.dnsmgr.net> Subject: Re: Move from termcap(5) to terminfo(5) In-Reply-To: <20200507124126.g4z5op4cyv45pmxn@ivaldir.net> To: Baptiste Daroussin Date: Thu, 7 May 2020 09:35:16 -0700 (PDT) CC: current@freebsd.org X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4ME+ PL121h (25)] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Rspamd-Queue-Id: 49Hzb96fR5z4NWx X-Spamd-Bar: ----- Authentication-Results: mx1.freebsd.org; none X-Spamd-Result: default: False [-6.00 / 15.00]; NEURAL_HAM_MEDIUM(-1.00)[-0.996,0]; REPLY(-4.00)[]; NEURAL_HAM_LONG(-1.00)[-1.000,0] X-BeenThere: freebsd-current@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.30 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussions about the use of FreeBSD-current List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 07 May 2020 16:35:18 -0000 > Hello everyone, > > I can't find any proper rationale in our history (maybe I missed it) which > explains why our ncurses is stuck on using termcap(5) instead of terminfo(5) > Except an argument in the Makefile that builds ncurses: > "Used instead of the hideous read_termcap.c abomination." > > Which I do not find really useful. > > I would like to make the move from termcap to terminfo which would give us the > bonus to be able to track terminfo sources from upstream aka ncurses and to > add and use tic(1). > > Given the very few people that are actually maintaining the termcap database. I > don't think there is a good rationale at keeping our own format (as far as I > know everyone moved to terminfo(5)) and parser. > > Without any strong arguments against it I will start working on that move by > next week. > > If you have some knowledge you want to share: "be careful about this or that" I > would be more than happy to collect it, to make sure the transition is as smooth > as possible. The feedback I have from the few people that *are* effected by our lack of use of terminfo is positive on this change. Our use of termcap is a pain for them, especially with the base vs ports issues. As far as I am aware the termcap vs terminfo is simply historical in nature with no strong reason to change it. It use to be that both had pretty close shares of the supported by software segment. That historical precedence has worn thin, as there is very little support for termcap today. > Best regards, > Bapt -- Rod Grimes rgrimes@freebsd.org