On Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 06:29:43PM -0600, Chris Adams wrote:
> I'm not sure if this is so much a bug report as it is a request for
> which is the best option with (near-)current software.
> 
> When I upgraded to Fedora 43, I got screen-5.0.1 and ncurses-6.5.  Per
> screen bug https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?67436 screen 5.0 implements
> italics now, and the terminfo entry for "screen" has the italics
> sequence for standout mode, so things wanting standout get italics
> instead.
> 
> I use real xterm (401 on Fedora 43), and for ages I've used TERM=xterm,
> which means when I run screen I get TERM=screen (this was in part
> because for work I'd often be logging into network gear with very
> limited terminal info, but they had xterm and screen, although that's
> not really an issue for me anymore).  That's where I see the problem
> with standout vs. italics.
> 
> Trying combinations, I see:
> 
> "TERM=xterm" (or xterm-new or xterm-256color which is Fedora xterm default):
> - smso gets standout
> - sitm gets italics
> 
> "TERM=xterm screen" gets TERM=screen:
> - smso gets italics
> - sitm does nothing
> 
> "TERM=xterm-new screen" gets TERM=screen.xterm-new:
> - smso gets standout
> - sitm does nothing
> 
> "TERM=xterm-256color screen" gets TERM=screen.xterm-256color:
> - smso gets standout
> - sitm does nothing

the above looks consistent
 
> "screen -T screen5" gets TERM=screen5:
> - smso gets standout
> - sitm gets italics

hmm - thanks for the reminder - I see this in my Fedora rawhide:

screen-5.0.1-6.fc44.x86_64

I haven't looked recently at screen version 5
(which was unreleased for several years).

infocmp has

comparing screen to screen5.
    comparing booleans.
    comparing numbers.
    comparing strings.
        ritm: NULL, '\E[23m'.
        rmso: '\E[23m', '\E[27m'.
        sgr: 
'\E[0%?%p6%t;1%;%?%p1%t;3%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p3%t;7%;%?%p4%t;5%;%?%p5%t;2%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;',
 
'\E[0%?%p6%t;1%;%?%p2%t;4%;%?%p1%p3%|%t;7%;%?%p4%t;5%;%?%p5%t;2%;m%?%p9%t\016%e\017%;'.
        sitm: NULL, '\E[3m'.
        smso: '\E[3m', '\E[7m'.
 
...which as I mentioned, I haven't retested for quite a while.

> So should I just use screen5 for screen (which then is a separate issue

yes... until "screen version 5" actually becomes prevalent.
Debian testing still has 4.9; OpenSUSE also (from last week anyway).
Other systems will take longer.

(we're talking about a change to a 30-year-old bug which doesn't improve much)

> because I also use RHEL systems that don't have screen5, sigh)?  Do the
> screen.xterm* variants add more than the screen5 entry?
> 
> Thanks for tips.
> 
> Side note: I do enjoy seeing the history embedded in the terminfo
> file... I wrote the "ADM 31 DIP Switches" documentation chunk back in
> 1993, emailed to Richard Shuford who was then the keeper of terminal
> history.
> https://www.vt100.net/shuford/terminal/lear_siegler_adm_setup.txt
> 
> -- 
> Chris Adams <[email protected]>
> 
> 

-- 
Thomas E. Dickey <[email protected]>
https://invisible-island.net

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