In message <20000704055546.1E066E3@proven.weird.com>Greg A. Woods writes

>Don't forget though that the VT52 and VT100 (and VT101 and the
>decwriter-III and other similar keyboards) had both a normal backspace
>key *and* the delete key in approximately the "correct" places, so from
>a layout perspective there's no real preference on those physical
>models.

Sure. and the sun type-4 keyboard (tho' I occasionall mapped backspace
to delete there, too: as a reach issue).

[...]

>I think it should work the vt220-way by default if my experience is
>anything to go by, though as I say I've not yet run X11 on the console
>either with or without my wsconsctl tweaks in place.

xterm *used* to work the vt220-ish way, after the xmodmap, but now it
doesn't.  That renders the 1.4.x systems i have in the lab close to
unusable ~unusuable via rlogin/telnet. it usuable.

If nobody suggests a fix (after the US long weekend), I propose to
back out the change, plus any corresponding changes to termcap.

>Hmmm... OK, interesting.
>
>what is happening then?

#1. I do the xmodmap thing I posted earlier.
#2. I rlogin to a system running 1.4.x of uncertain vintage.
#3. I start emacs.
#4.  when I press the hey labeleld <-, it sends esc-[-3-~ over
    the rlogin session.

#5.  emacs (more or less correctly) interprets this as a _keypad_-delete,
     which is (per PC usage) mapped to delete-right
     (emacs fucntion delete-baclward-char; deletes character under cursor,
     not the char to the left of the cursror).


All I wanted is that the key I have xmodmapped the keysym "Delete" to
generate ASCII DEL, like it does on a vt100.  As X11 has supported
since, oh, X11R3 or thereabouts.  I wouldn't have expected that was
too much to ask for.