Re: [bugreport] can't search files containing text in .tar[.gz] files, misc bugreports and wishitems

[Pavel Roskin <proski gnu org>]

Hi, Tomasz!

> > mc-4.5.35-xtermcolor.patch - Ximian-specific hack - xterm may be
> > black-white, it's just _believed_ to support color on all systems
> > supported by Ximian.
>
> Instead believig this kind things it will be better if Xiniam people will
> change own xterm programs for negotiate not TERM=xterm but
> TERM=xterm-color :> (??)

Please don't post messages when you are angry - rereading the message and
fixing spell errors usually helps :-)

> "Beliving" or not TERM=xterm is color terminal is "Bad Design (TM)".

Terminal databases may be broken or out of sync with the actually used
software. This cannot be avoided because software changes all the time.
Remote access and abundance of UNIX clones makes it a commonplace.

There are many ways to fix possible problems, but the user should
generally have a choice, dependent on how well she knows the system,
whether she has root access, how many different programs she wants to run
and how much time she want to spend setting the environment.

Sometimes setting a separate terminfo database and pointing $TERMINFO to
it is the right solution if you don't have root account. But sometimes
it's just not worth the trouble.

Choice is important. There are many ways to make user experience better.
We cannot be as strict to the users as we are (or should be) to ourselves.

> Instead beliving better look into terminal database and check "colors"
> term sequence. Current MC have also some "Bad Design (TM)" things like
> handling in ini file section like:
>
> [Colors]
> color_terminals=<list_terminal_types>
>
> IMHO thing like this will be better remove from MC.

I agree that it's a bad design, but for another reason. It's a bad design
beacuse MC doesn't provide menu interface to this setting. We really need
a menu item "Terminal Settings" instead of just "Display bits..."

> Yes I know many Linux distribution have incorrecly builded xterm emulation
> applications (but some not) which negotiates instead TERM=xterm-color bad
> TERM=xterm which drives some developers to implement "Bad Design (TM)".
> But sorru - no excuses .. all xterm, aterm, rxvt and many othes are realy
> *color* terminals and for allow using colors in proper way in applications
> all this xterm applications must be fixed for negotiate TERM=xterm-color :>

Try discussing it with the developers of those terminals. Just one
objection that they may (or may not) have - many old UNIX machines don't
know "xterm-color". If you login from your shiny eterm to such machine you
have to set TERM to something else, for example "xterm".

It's just an example. I mean, I'm not the right person to discuss what
terminals should do.

The reason why I don't want "xterm" to be there is because MC without
Ximian packaging is widely used on various UNIX systems, not because I'm
against reasonable workarounds for problems that not every user can fix
(wants to fix, has permission to fix, has time to fix) in other way.

-- 
Regards,
Pavel Roskin