From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon May 29 06:29:28 2006 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6AA3816A7AD for ; Mon, 29 May 2006 06:29:28 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk) Received: from smtp.infracaninophile.co.uk (ns0.infracaninophile.co.uk [81.187.76.162]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B2BD543D48 for ; Mon, 29 May 2006 06:29:26 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk) Received: from [IPv6:::1] (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by smtp.infracaninophile.co.uk (8.13.6/8.13.6) with ESMTP id k4T6TJUA089657; Mon, 29 May 2006 07:29:20 +0100 (BST) (envelope-from m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk) Message-ID: <447A94BA.9000302@infracaninophile.co.uk> Date: Mon, 29 May 2006 07:29:14 +0100 From: Matthew Seaman Organization: Infracaninophile User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.2 (X11/20060423) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Stephen Hurd References: <004101c6810c$edeeaaf0$5200a8c0@backoffice> <447A8B42.2060901@sasktel.net> In-Reply-To: <447A8B42.2060901@sasktel.net> X-Enigmail-Version: 0.94.0.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-ripemd160; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="------------enig3CC51A4B2841E627D47D72C3" X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-2.0.2 (smtp.infracaninophile.co.uk [IPv6:::1]); Mon, 29 May 2006 07:29:20 +0100 (BST) X-Virus-Scanned: ClamAV 0.88.2/1494/Sun May 28 19:27:02 2006 on happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk X-Virus-Status: Clean X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.6 required=5.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,NO_RELAYS autolearn=ham version=3.1.1 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.1.1 (2006-03-10) on happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Custom termcap entries and installworld X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 29 May 2006 06:29:28 -0000 This is an OpenPGP/MIME signed message (RFC 2440 and 3156) --------------enig3CC51A4B2841E627D47D72C3 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-15 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Stephen Hurd wrote: > Stephen Hurd wrote: >> So, I suppose my questions are these: >> 1) How do people cope with custom termcap entries? >> 2) Is there a *correct* way to cope with custom termcap entries? >> 3) Is there a good reason to not have /usr/share/misc/termcap be a >> symlink to /etc/termcap rather than the reverse which would allow >> mergemaster to Just Work? that is... putting it in /etc fixes a >> problem... does moving it create one or more more serious problems? >> 4) Am I supposed to submit every custom termcap tweak for inclusion in= >> the next release so I can keep using my terminals? > Anyone? I think you're not going to have much luck here. Custom termcap entries are not something that most FreeBSD users deal with and consequently ther= e does not seem to be any useful mechanism established for managing them. The curses(3X) man page seems to be they key reference. Particularly the section on environment variables: TERM, TERMCAP, TERMPATH. It does also mention the possibility of using ${HOME}/.termcap to hold supplement= ary termcap entries. However, these man pages are rather confusing: many of t= hem talk about terminfo(5) in terms of 'it is going to replace termcap(5) any= day now'. But terminfo(5) is a SysV-ism and supported only as a compatib= ility thing under FreeBSD. Most people will be perfectly happy with the default termcap database -- = so long as it provides xterm / vt100 and cons25 almost all situations are co= vered. For your purposes if using environment variables to achieve your ends tur= ns out not to be workable, then I'd suggest keeping a backup copy of your custom= ised termcap somewhere where system updates won't overwrite it -- keeping it in CVS or similar would be a good move -- and writing yourself a little script to merge in your changes to /usr/share/misc/termcap and then re-ru= n 'cap_mkdb /usr/share/misc/termcap' after a system update. I've a feeling= that /etc/termcap is there mostly for historical compatibility now-adays. Cheers, Matthew --=20 Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 7 Priory Courtyard Flat 3 PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Ramsgate Kent, CT11 9PW --------------enig3CC51A4B2841E627D47D72C3 Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" Content-Description: OpenPGP digital signature Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.3 (FreeBSD) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD4DBQFEepS/8Mjk52CukIwRA8UXAJIDVeRc2rys+6Ryy7ZHYfO5LtfDAJ9jdvQ3 xX8U48qkM/kGf2yAp+9v0Q== =DHqa -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --------------enig3CC51A4B2841E627D47D72C3--