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Date:      20 Feb 1999 18:32:32 +0100
From:      naddy@mips.rhein-neckar.de (Christian Weisgerber)
To:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: vt0 or sc0, what is your opinion?
Message-ID:  <7amrjg$clv$1@mips.rhein-neckar.de>
References:  <CA46FF404177D111A6B600609737B2B8E35EB2@exmail.co.napa.ca.us>

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Boune, Damian <DBoune@co.napa.ca.us> wrote:

> 	I am trying to decide which console driver to use on my new (and
> very much beloved) FreeBSD box.

Try them both and decide for yourself which one you like better.

> In the past I have always just left the default, sc0, as I don't know
> enough about the two to make a good decision.

PCVT (vt0):
+ Emulates a DEC VT220 about as well as possible on PC display
  adapter hardware.
o Has some bizarre features like on-screen function key labels.
  (Really a plus, if only anybody needed it.)
- Has a bizarre font architecture that serves the needs of a VT220
  emulation very well but can't be expanded.
- Doesn't support moused(8).
- Won't see any further development, although it still does see some
  active maintenance. In fact, it even had been axed from 3.0-CURRENT
  for a couple of days, before much screaming and yelling brought it
  back.

Syscons (sc0):
+ Actively developed.
+ Supports moused(8).
+ Has run-of-the-mill loadable fonts.
- Emulates a SCO ANSI console, which is quite pityful compared to a
  VT220.

Basically, it boils down to whether you want a PC console or a
VT220-type console. No best-of-both-worlds, alas.

>From time to time there is talk on -current and -hackers about
modularizing syscons to provide the framework for pluggable emulations,
i.e. you could load syscons-sco, syscons-vt, etc, depending on your
needs and tastes. Unfortunately a lot of work still needs to be done to
make this viable, and I'm not sure whether anybody's working on it.

-- 
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber                  naddy@mips.rhein-neckar.de
    carpe librum: books 'n' reviews <URL:http://www.carpe.com/buch/>;



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