Subject: Re: i386 bootselector changes
To: None <current-users@netbsd.org>
From: Thor Lancelot Simon <tls@rek.tjls.com>
List: current-users
Date: 10/23/2003 15:25:23
On Thu, Oct 23, 2003 at 02:22:10PM -0500, Eric Haszlakiewicz wrote:
>
> 	well, my knee jerk reaction here is "deal with it.  the keys are
> only one row apart".  On the other hand, I can understand how annoying
> it can be to have to change a old ingrained behaviour.  If switching
> F1-F4 and 1-4 makes the common case now more similar to the common case
> before, then I'd say go ahead.

I don't agree -- it's basically impossible to know what key combination
on a serial console will generate what the bootselector thinks is "F1";
on some terminals, *there may be no such key combination*.  I've had
truly horrible experiences with this exact issue making it impossible to
enter serial BIOS configuration screens without hooking up an actual AT
keyboard.

Bear in mind that if one's using BIOS console redirection, we may not be
able to tell if the console's "VGA" or "serial".  I think the old behaviour
was a serious bug, and that the change should stay.

-- 
 Thor Lancelot Simon	                                      tls@rek.tjls.com
   But as he knew no bad language, he had called him all the names of common
 objects that he could think of, and had screamed: "You lamp!  You towel!  You
 plate!" and so on.              --Sigmund Freud