[Fwd: Custom termcap entries and installworld]


--- Begin Message --- I've now shot myself in the foot at least three times in as many years with custom termcap entries... here's the deal:

1) I modify /etc/termcap and customize a termcap entry for some valid reason (I need 132x42 or whatever for my Link MC/5)
2) I update /etc/gettytab and /etc/ttys accordingly and happily use my dumb terminal on occasion (roughly once per week)
3) I upgrade via sources, being sure to run mergemaster and friends.
4) My terminal stops working.

I have now shot myself in the foot and need to recreate the termcap entry (which, silly me, I didn't back up)
Now, intellectually, I *know* that termcap is really stored in /usr/share/misc, and that mergemaster doesn't/can't touch those files since they're not configuration files... but every single time I run installworld, I need to take a manual step to keep things working the way they were before. This is a POLA breaker but I've just ignored it every time it happened until now. This time I opened a PR (http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/query-pr.cgi?pr=bin/97407) wishing for mergemaster support which, of course, isn't the Right Thing.

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?

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Relevant Pages

  • Custom termcap entries and installworld
    ... I've now shot myself in the foot at least three times in as many years with custom termcap entries... ... Now, intellectually, I *know* that termcap is really stored in /usr/share/misc, and that mergemaster doesn't/can't touch those files since they're not configuration files... ... Is there a *correct* way to cope with custom termcap entries? ...
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  • Re: Custom termcap entries and installworld
    ... >2) Is there a *correct* way to cope with custom termcap entries? ... This does present the possibility of a permanent solution but seems like a fiendishly large amount of work for what seems to me like a simple task especially considering that this configuration file has been around since the late 70s. ...
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  • Re: Custom termcap entries and installworld
    ... Stephen Hurd wrote: ... Is there a *correct* way to cope with custom termcap entries? ...
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