lost esc keys - ancient history

[Mike Goss]

mike at snowhite.cis.uoguelph.ca (no relation) :-) writes:
> rbriber at poly1.nist.gov writes:
> 
> >Tim Buxton writes about problems with losing the ESC character
> >from the arrow key codes when using a terminal emulator and PC connected
> >to his Iris.  We have had the same problem with both vi and emacs
> >and PC's hooked to the Iris serial ports.
...
>     I've noticed the same kind of thing happening on PIs, 4D50s, and our 240,
> on all IRIX versions up to 3.2.1 (which is the latest that we have).  Even our
> old 1400 (yes, it still runs, but nobody wants to use it much anymore) had
> the same behavior.

You have stumbled across one of the most ancient and mysterious Unix problems
ever to vex the minds of historians!  I don't think I've ever worked on
a Unix system that did NOT have this problem, going back to a Perkin-Elmer
3220 running Unix Version 7 (not a misprint; Version 7 came before System V,
for reasons known only to AT&T).

Anyone who can solve this problem once and for all will certainly earn
the thanks of Unix users everywhere, and perhaps a shot at a Nobel prize
or Turing award, or at least an Edgar.

------------------------------
Mike Goss
Merit Technology Inc.
(214)733-7018
goss at snow-white.merit-tech.com

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