Subject: Re: IMPORTANT: wscons virtual screen configuration
To: Hubert Feyrer <hubert.feyrer@rz.uni-regensburg.de>
From: None <drochner@zel459.zel.kfa-juelich.de>
List: tech-install
Date: 03/14/1999 14:31:19
feyrer@rfhs8012.fh-regensburg.de said:
> > option WSDISPLAY_DEFAULTSCREENS=8
> > will set up 8 screens automatically without need for "wsconscfg".
> 
> Can we leave these 8 (or maybe just 4) in there by default?  If
> someone wants some special customisation he can still play with
> wsconscfg, but I'd prefer to have the VCs available per default, not
> after switching them on.  

I'd rather set up a reasonable default configuration in
/etc/rc.wscons, and call it from /etc/rc (controlled by
an rc.conf flag, but this file has to be set up anyway).
For me, it is a great advantage to define myself what type
of display I get in a virtual screen. And it's cleaner and
more ressource-efficient.

> After all, NetBSD has ~ever supported VCs (via pvct), but almost everyone
> thought that NetBSD wouldn't support VCs because they weren't shipped per
> default. 

I'd say setting eg a CONFIG_WSCONS=YES variable in rc.conf
should be easy enough then.

> Plus, wsconscfg is on /usr, which may not be mountable and thus would
> prevent using of VCs in case of emercenvy (where it's still possible to
> spawn a shell on another tty). 

This could still be changed...

> P.D.: While I'm at griping: It would be cool if we could add some
>       "scrollback" buffer to wscons to we could even read the top
>       of the boot messages etc. :-)

I know, I know. That's however a serious undertaking; I can't
make it before the release.

best regards
Matthias