RFC: VC Compromise (was Re: vc scrollback)

Hendrik Visage (Hendrik.Visage@VECTOR.CO.ZA)
Fri, 13 Oct 1995 19:32:12 +0200 (SAT)

OKay:
Here in South Africa (With the RDP), we call for a comprimize in situations
like these:

> > > I believe the whole vc system is fundamentally flawed. It is not the
> > > kernel's business to do console scrolling or console switching. That's
> > > to be done by a user process, namely by screen, available from all GNU
> > > sites. It multiplexes a character terminal, giving you all the
> >
> > ABSOLUTELY. Great idea. The more mature Linux gets, the more we (he? :)
> > should filter out things that were really put in there to make
> > development nicer, etc. It saves memory, etc.
>
> WRONG. Very bad idea. The VCs are *the* thing that makes Linux useable
> without X running. There are lots of low-end machines that this is
> vital for. Linux is, to some extent, the only useful system supporting
> such machines. It would be wrong to remove this support.

Now the Compromise:
1) Keep a *SMALL* default (Probably switchable) VC/Console system, This IS
needed for booting& fail-safe login etc..

2) Add the rest, like a switchable version, or THE super duper, scrollable,
colourazible, blinking, warning, auto-switched (For the abort retry stuff ;^),
(user level??) VC

3) Create a VC API which will then be used by user-level programs that will add
all these wise and wonderful things to the console like VT220, Wyse 50, QVT 62,
etc. emulation when needed for that odd one out.....


>
> Furthermore, as other people have pointed out, VC switching is
> extraordinarily useful. I have my syslog scrolling up on one VC. I
> don't have to log out to let somebody else use the console.

AHHHHH!!!!!!
Well, then add a module which will use the special API to check the status on a
file, and display it when the specified VC is asked for..

>
> Screen doesn't cut it. Maybe if somebody patches it so it can use a
> sequence of more than one character as its escape it will have a
> chance of being useful. Maybe. It's still a highly inferior system.

Argreed, but not quite, screen is good, but not for a console thing....

------
Groetend / Sincerely Yours

Hendrik Visage
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