On Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 08:21:41PM -0500, Thomas Dickey wrote: > 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?
The screen.xterm* variants don't add anything. Basically "screen" detects
something like screen.$TERM, and uses that. Its reuse/extension/whatever
isn't perfect, so my customized entries tweak things in the screen.xterm*
to correspond with test results.
As a result, none of those screen.xterm* have italics as done in screen5.
I expect that I'll have to add something like screen4.* entries to act as
a bridge, and then at some point change this
screen|VT 100/ANSI X3.64 virtual terminal,
use=screen4,
to
screen|VT 100/ANSI X3.64 virtual terminal,
use=screen5,
If you have only one machine, and it doesn't have a $HOME/.terminfo,
then compiling that chunk with tic should allow you to use TERM=screen
from that machine -- but I expect it to not be that easy.
(I'd have left the 30-year-old bug alone and added some new/unused code
to get italics, but then there are lots of hard-coders who wouldn't agree)
> > 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
--
Thomas E. Dickey <[email protected]>
https://invisible-island.net
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