Yes, they should. And the kernel should also be able to provide settings
that make it easier for other vendor--NOT LINUX PACKAGERS--to support the
linux console in their termcaps.
> There was just not any real reason to change the default TERM value. People
> wanting to use TERM=linux, esp. in the affected newly installed system could
> just have used a non broken init or a non broken getty, but no.. they needed
> a kernel patch.
Yes, there was a real reason. Unless we want to become like dos/windows,
minor changes that break things will happen once in a while. This change
has the real advantage of making things simpler and of finally perhaps
making it possible that other vendors will finally support the linux console.
> Just because of these lazy people a bunch of existing linux installations
> all over the world is now screwed and their maintainers don't have a single
> clue why..
Anyone who installs a 1.3.x kernel without reading this list deserves
whatever hell they get. Sorry, but 1.3.x are testing kernels, often with
known problems, and the definite possibility remains of really screweing
things up by not knowing what you are doing with them... witness the ELF
problems, for one.
Personally, I think the 1.3.x tree whould be treated like the gcc
snapshots were... placed in a hidden directory only announced here.
Maybe that would reduce the number of people crying about them,
making the public think Linux tends to be severly broken...
(Not, mind you, that Linus doesn't do an extremely good job or
that I don't like having the prelim kernels around... just newbies
shouldn't be messing with kernels Linus hasn't compiled ;)
--randy