I'm not sure why newer versions of screen (or Ubuntu's configuration) tend to set this weird value of "screen.xterm-256color". The more readable value "screen-256color" is supported at least since Trusty 14.04 (see https://packages.ubuntu.com/trusty/all/ncurses- base/filelist), probably much earlier than that (I'm seeing forum posts about "screen-256color" dated 2011-ish).
I recommend that you configure your local screen to set this value instead. Indeed screen setting a new value of "screen.xterm-256color" that hasn't had years to get deployed across systems is a bug. (On a somewhat related note, this whole architecture is plain dead broken. ssh'ing and friends should transfer the entire description of the current terminal's behavior, not just a name. Then we wouldn't have to wait for years, anything new would be usable straight away.) -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to gnome-terminal in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1726826 Title: screen 256 colour TERM setting breaks logging into older hosts Status in gnome-terminal package in Ubuntu: New Status in screen package in Ubuntu: New Bug description: As of 16.04, the screen program started using a 256 colour setting. The problem is that this setting is relatively new and has not had a chance to propagate to older hosts, including something as new as the previous 15.x release. For example: -------------------------------------- paul@1604-host:~$ echo $TERM screen.xterm-256color paul@y1604-host:~$ ssh oldermachine Welcome to Ubuntu 15.04 (GNU/Linux 3.19.0-84-generic x86_64) * Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com/ 0 packages can be updated. 0 updates are security updates. Last login: Mon Oct 23 15:52:17 2017 from yow-pgortmak-d1.wrs.com paul@oldermachine:~$ echo foo > foo paul@yoldermachine:~$ less foo WARNING: terminal is not fully functional foo (press RETURN) paul@oldermachine:~$ export TERM=screen paul@yoldermachine:~$ less foo foo paul@oldermachine:~$ cat /etc/lsb-release DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu DISTRIB_RELEASE=15.04 DISTRIB_CODENAME=vivid DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 15.04" paul@oldermachine:~$ ------------------------------------------ This makes it extremely annoying to use 16.04 in order to interact with any other linux/unix machines. The 256 color term type needs at least a couple years roll-out time before it becomes the default. Otherwise the older machines won't have it and they will complain and default to ancient crippled defaults and nag you each time they have to do so. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+bug/1726826/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : [email protected] Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
